1EDITORIAL

F R A U N H O F E R I N S T I T U T E F O R

C O M P U T E R G R A P H I C S R E S E A R C H I G D

THE DIGITIZATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGEIN DEFIANCE OF WAR, FIRE, EARTHQUAKE –

PRESERVING CULTURAL HERITAGE

THE HYPE ABOUT A SMARTPHONEFINGERPRINTS AND INTERESTS IN BIOMETRICS

EVOLUTION INSTEAD OF REVOLUTION VISUAL COMPUTING SPURS INDUSTRY 4.0

THE DISPUTE ABOUT THE WINDMILL ENERGY TURNAROUND AND CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT

EDITORIAL02

Are you one of those people tired of hearing about “data

scandals” and “espionage affairs”? Do you think twice about

whether or not to save your fingerprint on your smartphone and

wonder where digitization is leading us? And how about your

tablet? Then you are in good company, as most people will share

your feelings. On the one hand, we don’t want to miss digitiz-

ation, even driving it further ahead single-handedly day by day.

On the other hand, we face it in a cautious-skeptical way – for

instance, whenever newspapers are plastered with reports about

bugging scandals. This was common practice last year, to put it

bluntly.

Back to the jungle drum? You wish …

So what should we make of digitization? Hands off and back

to paper, pen and jungle drum? Hardly. One thing is clear: We

will need to find solutions to avoid bugging scandals and to

make personal data more secure. But another thing is also clear:

Digitization is already penetrating our society right down to the

remotest corners, and hardly anyone would want to miss it. Or

would you prefer rushing to the branch office for your bank

transfers and stand in long lines to purchase your train tickets

again? The Committee for the German Federal Ministry of

Education and Research. Science Year shares a similar view and,

without further ado, places the year 2014 under the motto “The

Digital Society”. Each coin has two sides, even digitization. On

the one hand, we would like to leave personal data where they

belong, namely with the corresponding person. On the other

hand, there are also data we would like to deliberately spread

among a wider audience – for instance when it comes to cultural

Dear Partners and Friends,

DIGITIZATION – MORE OF A CURSE THAN BLESSING?EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

assets. For not all cultural treasures are accessible to the public:

Millions of them are "hidden" in museum archives, others are

irretrievably lost in natural disasters and wars. Here, digitization

turns out to be a blessing. Our “Cultural Heritage Digitization”

Competence Center, set up about a year ago, has exactly this

goal: to digitalize cultural assets three-dimensionally, speedily,

economically and in large quantities, thus preserving them for

posterity.

A similar path is pursued by our colleagues at Fraunhofer Austria

in Graz, who celebrated their five-year anniversary in November

2013. The “Visual Computing” Business Unit, our direct sister

so to speak, is contemplating how to secure architectural data

for the long term. When scanning historically valuable ruins, for

instance, we can archive and document their current state – and

allow visitors to virtually visit buildings.

Digitization is not a one-way street

A path can normally be pursued in more than one way. This

means: Not only can you transfer real things to the digital world,

but also bring things into the real world which only exist in the

digital world. In short: It is possible to print out virtual objects on

the spot, for instance digitalized art objects. And not on a sheet

of paper, but as real objects unfolding in three dimensions. How

to anchor this niche technology in our everyday life is what the

members of our new “3D Printing Technology” Competence

Center are concerned with.

As everything else in life, digital society does not only have

a bright side, which we clearly saw last year. But digitization

is deeply integrated in our everyday life and offers numerous

benefits. We should never lose sight of the problems and still

continue on the path that we have chosen. In the Annual Report

at hand, we will tell you how we at Fraunhofer IGD can assist

you as a competent partner in this process. We hope you will

enjoy reading all about it.

Dieter W. Fellner, Professor Dr. Matthias Unbescheiden

03

Prof. Dr. Dieter W. Fellner (right), Director of Fraunhofer IGD, together with his deputy, Dr. Matthias Unbescheiden

04 CONTENT

0 3 E D I T O R I A L

0 6 I N T E R V I E W – T H E D I G I T I Z AT I O N O F

C U LT U R A L H E R I TA G E

How can endangered art treasures be preserved for posterity?

Which contribution is Fraunhofer IGD making? These questions are

addressed by our expert interview.

1 0 Q U O VA D I S 3 D P R I N T I N G ?

3D printing can materialize digital objects. There is still a long way

to go for good results but a new initiative in Darmstadt is ready to

take on the challenge.

1 1 A U G M E N T E D R E A L I T Y A S T H E B A S I S

O F D I G I TA L S O C I E T Y – I N I N D U S T R Y A N D

C U LT U R E

Digitally augmented reality offers many opportunities to society. In-

dustry and those interested in culture can equally benefit from it.

1 2 T H E F U T U R E O F I N T E L L I G E N T

A PA R T M E N T S

To cope with everyday life, senior citizens are increasingly needy of

assistance. Intelligent apartments can help them live in a self-deter-

mined way for as long as possible.

1 6 T H E H Y P E A B O U T A S M A R T P H O N E – F I N -

G E R P R I N T S A N D I N T E R E S T I N B I O M E T R I C S

In 2013, Apple‘s iPhone5s clearly attracted the public’s attention to

biometrics again. But what is this technology all about and what is

already possible today?

1 8 E V O L U T I O N I N S T E A D O F R E V O L U T I O N –

V I S U A L C O M P U T I N G S P U R S I N D U S T R Y 4 . 0

Industry 4.0 will not arrive at manufacturing in one fell swoop. With

visual-computing approaches, however, this continuous process will

develop its own momentum.

2 2 S C I E N C E S O A P :

L O V E B E T W E E N A U D I T O R I U M A N D L A B

Natural sciences and their research are obviously not as unemotional

as commonly believed. At least in Rostock, there is a true “Storm of

Knowledge”.

2 3 F R O M T H E B E D R O O M T O T H E W O R K -

B E N C H : S M A R T W AT C H – T H E N E W T O O L

Intelligent watches are still an insider tip. At Fraunhofer, however,

their potential is already put to use intensively in various application

fields.

2 6 T H E D I S P U T E A B O U T T H E W I N D M I L L –

E N E R G Y T U R N A R O U N D A N D C I T I Z E N I N V O L -

V E M E N T

The future belongs to power from renewable and eco-friendly sour-

ces. The development of renewable energies bears a lot of potential

for conflict. How can we overcome this?

2 7 I N T E R V I E W : I N V O LV I N G C I T I Z E N S AT A N

E A R LY S TA G E

Modern geoinformation systems offer the required transparency to

involve citizens in decision-making processes at an early stage. The

“how” is addressed by our expert interview.

T H E D I G I T I Z A T I O N O F

C U L T U R A L H E R I T A G E

Digitizing the millions of mankind’s

cultural treasures seemed impossible

until recently. The key is industrial

automation.

A U G M E N T E D R E A L I T Y

A S T H E B A S I S O F D I G I -

T A L S O C I E T Y

Maintenance or repairs in aviation

are a complex matter. Augmented

reality will precisely pilot technicians

through the maintenance process

in the future and is on its way to

becoming the standard.

06 11T H E H Y P E A B O U T A

S M A R T P H O N E

Some things, modern man just has

to have. Is biometrics via finger-print

scan in Apple’s new iPhone5s one of

those things?

16

05CONTENT

2 8 F R A U N H O F E R A U S T R I A – A S H O R T R E -

V I E W F O R W A R D

Visual-computing researchers in Austria’s Graz are looking back on

five years under the Fraunhofer flag. At the same time, their pro-

jects are clearly forward-looking.

3 2 O P T I C S H E L P – V I S U A L D E C I S I O N - M A K I N G

A I D I N A N E V E R M O R E C O M P L E X W O R L D

Decision-makers are often pressed for time and need to deal with

countless pieces of information. Presented in the right images, these

quickly become less threatening.

3 3 C O M P R E H E N D I N G C O M P L E X D ATA AT A

G L A N C E

Learning and working can be greatly simplified by visual computing.

Once the incomprehensible can be graphically discovered, it beco-

mes easier to understand.

3 4 V I S U A L C O M P U T I N G I N M O D E R N M E D I C I N E

– V I S I O N S , P E R S P E C T I V E S , O P P O R T U N I T I E S

Visual computing offers great potential for medicine. This makes

it easier to plan complex medical operations. This is a win-win for

doctors and patients.

3 6 O F F I C E A S A N U R S I N G R O O M

Reconciling family and professional life is not easy for many parents.

The Steger family is one example of how a family and the daily life of

a researcher can harmonize with each other.

3 8 R E S E A R C H O N T H E L I N E

Five research areas form the scientific basis of Fraunhofer IGD. They

characterize the required technological foundations to master the

complex research projects.

4 0 T R A D E F A I R S A N D E V E N T S

4 2 F R A U N H O F E R I G D I N P R O F I L E

4 6 T H E I N S T I T U T E I N F I G U R E S

4 8 F R A U N H O F E R L I N K E D I N

5 0 C U S T O M E R S A N D C O O P E R AT I O N PA RT N E R S

5 2 P U B L I C AT I O N S

5 4 W H AT W E C A N D O F O R Y O U – S E R V I C E

A N D C O N TA C T S

5 8 H O W T O F I N D U S

5 9 E D I T O R I A L N O T E S

V I S U A L C O M P U T I N G I N

M O D E R N M E D I C I N E

Visual computing harbors great

potential to assist physicians. In the

future, it will take some of the load off

doctors, take on time-consuming tasks

for them, and help treat patients better.

F R A U N H O F E R A U S T R I A

– A S H O R T R E V I E W F O R -

W A R D

From the virtual Vienna central station

via factory planning all the way to a

personal driver assistance system – the-

re is some top-level Fraunhofer research

going on in Graz.

E V O L U T I O N I N S T E A D O F

R E V O L U T I O N

With the current trend in the develop-

ment of production processes, many

are talking about the “4th Industrial

Revolution”. At the same time, it is

more of a continuous change.

18 28 34

6 EDITORIAL

Preserv ing cultural her i tage after i t has been charred in a f i re or shattered into a mi l l ion pieces in

the ruins of a col laps ing bui ld ing? What at f i rst sounds contradictory, i s actual ly poss ib le: I f we

digita l ize our cultural t reasures, we can save them for poster i ty .

IN DEFIANCE OF WAR, FIRE, EARTHQUAKE – PRESER-VING CULTURAL HERITAGE

07THE DIGITIZATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

sheets which are nested inside each other. They record its geo-

metry, surface properties and the optical material characteristics,

namely under different lighting conditions. Next, the artifact is

moved onto a turntable where a robot arm equipped with ano-

ther scanner might close any remaining gaps. This entire process

takes four to five minutes at best. It would be desirable to install

such pipelines where objects enter the archive. Then, we would

There’s hardly anything we can do against natural di-

sasters, fires and wars. So do we need to stand back

and do nothing while some of our cultural treasures are

irretrievably wiped out?

Dieter Fellner: No, we can preserve cultural treasures

for posterity even when they are destroyed – namely by

digitalizing them in time. The demand is enormous. In Germany

alone, at least 250 million “3D artifacts” are waiting for their

digitization. But let’s make this enormous number a little more

tangible: At the museums in Berlin alone, 120,000 new arrivals

are moved to the archives every year. There, most of them will

lie dormant for 14 to 15 years until they are “rediscovered”. It

is therefore our goal to completely automate the 3D digitization

process – thus keeping track of millions of art objects.

Which specific approaches are you pursuing at Fraunho-

fer IGD to achieve this goal?

Pedro Santos: We have already laid the technological

foundation. With a globally unique 3D mass digitization line. At

the international congress “Digital Heritage” in 2013, we were

proud to receive the award for the best exhibit. The principle:

First, a conveyor belt will move the artifact in two aluminum

INTERVIEW

The earth quakes with a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter scale, the I ranian c i ty of Bam l ies in ruins. In the pro -

cess, the c lay bui ld ings are a lso i r retr ievably lost , which had been erected by Safawiden in the 16th through 18th

century. One year after the earthquake, in 2004, a f i re in the att ic of the Duchess Anna Amal ia l ibrary in Weimar

devours 50,000 books. In 2012, Is lamists in Mal i destroy the mausoleum Sidi Mahmud Ben Amar, which is part

of the UNESCO world her i tage. In short : Natural d isasters or wars, f i res and col laps ing bui ld ings such as the

Cologne c i ty archive are destroying many of our cultural assets. How we can st i l l preserve the cultural her i tage

for poster i ty i s expla ined by Dieter Fe l lner, Director of Fraunhofer IGD, and Pedro Santos, head of Cultural Her i -

tage Digit izat ion at Fraunhofer IGD.

INTERVIEW WITH DIETER W. FELLNER AND PEDRO SANTOS

THE DIGITIZATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Prof. Dr. Dieter W. Fellner

THE DIGITIZATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE08

have all artefacts recorded before they disappear in long-term

storage. In 2014, we would like to concentrate more on a

robot scenario, enabling us to automatically scan and digitalize

statues of up to two and a half meters in height.

Where do the museum directors and curators stand

on this type of automated digitization? Are they more

open or rather skeptic?

Dieter Fellner: Let’s put it this way: We need and we are

in a constructive dialog with the curators. As they often cannot

imagine that machines are capable of handling their artifacts

with similar care as themselves. Here, we actually still need to

overcome some prejudice. However, a lot of museum directors

have come to the realization that the size of the task can only

be mastered by automating the 3D digitization process.

A real work of art – a statue for instance – can be exhi-

bited, viewed and analyzed at a museum. Which options

does digitization have to offer?

Dieter Fellner: It basically offers options similar to the real

objects. The high quality of digitization allows museums to dis-

play digital reproductions as part of hybrid exhibits, i.e. directly

next to real objects. This would have the benefit that art objects

would no longer need to be transported across the world to be

exhibited as loaners in various museums. Furthermore, the di-

gital reproductions may be printed out three-dimensionally – in

order to create a replica of the original. Our new “3D Printing

Technology” Competence Center develops printer drivers with

the goal of replicating the appearance at least under certain

lighting conditions. It is also conceivable to post the digital

works of art on the internet in a kind of online museum.

M. Sc. Inform. Pedro Santos

09THE DIGITIZATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Let’s put ourselves in the place of a visitor at a hybrid

exhibition: Are the digitizations close to the originals’

quality?

Pedro Santos: In fact, hardly any differences can be

noticed aside from the fact that you are viewing the digital art

objects on a 3D screen. They may also be viewed from all sides

just like real works of art. In addition, we do not only take into

account the geometry and surface property of an object but

also its optical material characteristics.

Art historians have so far only analyzed originals.

Would they be able to work with the digitizations

just as well, for instance if the originals have been

destroyed?

Pedro Santos: Yes, digitizations offer such a high resolu-

tion and quality that scientists can use them for their analyses.

For instance, it is possible to determine by means of the digital

reproductions whether a sculpture originates from the artist

himself or from one of his students. While art historians had

to measure traces on the statue manually before, they are able

to use computer graphics with the digitalized reproductions.

In addition, several researchers are able to work on the same

object at the same time, which is naturally not always possible

with the original.

You have already managed to automate digitization

with the prototype of the digitization pipeline. What

are the next steps? Is it enough to transfer this pipeline

into commercial applications now?

Pedro Santos: Unfortunately, this won’t be enough. There

are still many unsolved challenges associated with digitization,

for instance data storage: If we digitalize millions of art objects,

we will end up with enormous amounts of data, which we

need to store permanently. There is no storage technology to

date to even implement this. The data formats still require a lot

of work, too. They still have to be usable in hundreds of years.

In the “CultLab3D” project, we are therefore dealing with these

questions as well.

In technological terms, there are still some challenges to

be mastered before we will be able to digitalize cultural

treasures on a large scale. What does the legal side look

like? Are there still some obstacles to be overcome?

Dieter Fellner: These obstacles exist indeed. So far, it has

not been legally clarified who the owner of the three-dimensio-

nal digitization of an art object is. Does it belong to the owner

of the art object? And what is about artefacts being loaned?

In order to clarify the legal situation, we are bringing together

all parties in the “3D Culture” forum. It cannot only be about

developing the technologies for 3D mass digitization. We must

rather design an entire eco system in which all players from

research, business, culture and politics are making an interdis-

ciplinary contribution to a concerted strategy. This is the only

way to create the conditions for a sustainable and economically

viable digital preservation of cultural assets.

3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

CONTACT PHILIPP URBAN

3D printing has long been established: Three-dimensional models

can be printed out and thus be materialized. Valuable museum

pieces, for instance, can be scanned three-dimensionally and

reproduced at the push of a button. When it comes to shapes, 3D

printing works precisely for the most part: The copy is identical to

the original or the computer data. When it comes to color, shine,

specularity, transluceny, or transparency, however, the duplicate

does not typically match the original. Thus far, this was mainly

due to the printing devices which were only able to produce

objects from one single material. New 3D printers, however, are

capable of combining several materials, thus making completely

new applications possible. The required algorithms and software

have been lacking to tap the full potential of these devices.

At this time, 3D printing is still a developing market. But one

with rapid growth and great future potential. For instance, the

global market has grown by 27 percent respectively in the last

three years. Even more rapid is the development in the services

sector: There is an increasing number of trading portals offering

3D models and their corresponding printouts. It is hard to predict,

however, what the printed piece, which the users will finally hold

in their hands, will exactly look like: The actual duplicate often

visually varies from the model.

New competence center improves 3D printing

With the “3D Printing Technology” Competence Center, headed

by Philipp Urban since October 2013, Fraunhofer IGD wants to

help 3D printing make more precise copies. The “Fraunhofer

Attract” program is partly funding this project.

In a first step, we are working on modeling and simulating 3D

printing. Which type of copy can be expected when different ma-

terials are arranged in a certain way? This is where Urban brings

in the experience he gathered in the past 14 years in 2D printing.

Such a model would benefit suppliers as well as users of 3D

printing services: The simulation reveals within a few minutes what

the printed object would look like – before a resource-intensive

printing process is triggered.

We will also analyze the reversed approach: Which materials must

be combined in which way to reproduce an object as precisely as

possible? This also includes shifting printing errors, preferably to

areas less conspicuous to the beholder. It is our goal to develop

some kind of clearance: This is to indicate how strongly certain

errors strike the beholder. We are combining all of these optimiza-

tions in one universal printer driver which can be applied in all the

different 3D printing processes.

QUO VADIS 3D PRINTING?

In ject ion molding, pottery, carpentry – three-dimensional objects can be made in

many ways. What is less known: Objects may a lso be pr inted out. In the “3D Pr int ing

Technology” Competence Center which has been set up recent ly at Fraunhofer IGD,

we would l ike to opt imize 3D pr int ing and help this new market gain more potent ia l .

10

Dr. Philipp Urban

11AUGMENTED REALITY

In which way can augmented reality help bring people clo-

ser to cultural heritage?

For instance, augmented reality might be helpful at museums in the

future. Within the scope of the EU research project “CHESS”, we

are revealing the painting on statues which might have disappeared

due to color fading etc. Visitors at the Acropolis museum in Athens

would then be able to point their smartphone to a statue, photo-

graph it with the integrated camera and see on their display how

the statue used to be painted.

Are there also examples of how virtual reality makes the

past tangible to culturally interested people?

At the Hessian state exhibition EXPEDITION GRIMM, we showed a

3D reconstruction of the Grimm residence in Kassel – the residence

in which the brothers lived for around seven years and in which the

“German Legends” were created. In 1943, the residence completely

burned down. By means of original layouts, archived materials and

construction plans, we have virtually reconstructed the apartment.

The visitors of the exhibition were able to virtually move around the

apartment.

Maintenance or repairs in industry and transport are a

complex matter. The same appl ies to airplanes. Augmen-

ted real ity wil l precisely pi lot technicians through the

maintenance process in the future – and is wel l on its

way to becoming the standard in this f ield.

CONTACT ULRICH BOCKHOLT

Our society has arrived in the digital age: Smartphones are

everywhere, the internet is always available. Digitization is now

also entering the world of maintenance and documentation, such

as in the regular inspection of airplanes. Where technicians had to

leaf through manuals and coax the desired information from these

works before, a smartphone or tablet PC will from now on guide

them through the complex process. The technicians are recording

the service parts of the airplane with their mobile device, and in-

formation, movies or documentations on the maintenance history

are displayed over the real image – as little virtual post-its so to

speak. This solution was developed in the “Virtual and Augmented

Reality” Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD and presented at

CeBIT 2013 together with T-Systems Multimedia Solutions.

Augmented reality: on its way to becoming the stan-dard in maintenance and documentation

The technology can be used in any conceivable field, for instance

in architecture and building maintenance, and therefore has great

potential. It can absolutely be expected that augmented reality will

become the standard in maintenance as well as in the documentati-

on of maintenance work. And it will also make waves in completely

different fields: for instance in the cultural sector. Augmented and

virtual reality are well on their way to becoming the standard in

the industry. But also culture and society will benefit from these

technologies. Ulrich Bockholt, head of the “Virtual and Augmented

Reality” Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD reveals what this

could be like.

AUGMENTED REALITY AS THE BASIS OF DIGITAL SOCIETY – IN INDUSTRY …

... AND CULTURE

12 EDITORIAL

THE FUTURE OF INTELLIGENT APARTMENTS

13

Senior c i t izens would l ike to remain ins ide their homes

for as long as poss ib le. Ambient ass isted l iv ing techno -

logies are helping them: The measured pulse and blood

pressure is communicated to the doctor in case of any

deviat ion from normal healthy readings, d isplays re -

mind them to take their medic ine or to dr ink something.

But the market is re luctant to respond with solut ions

using such technologies. Standards are to pave the way

and br ing such appl icat ions to where they are needed

now – into the homes of the e lder ly .

CONTACT REINER WICHERT

“You cannot shift an old tree without it dying”, is often what you

get to hear from the elderly when they are supposed to move

from their apartment into a nursing home or an assisted-living

apartment. It is often observed that such uprooted people lose

their interest in life after moving. But what to do if the elderly are

no longer able to cope on their own? If their vital parameters –

such as blood pressure, breathing rate, pulse – must be checked on

a regular basis, they do not drink enough or are prone to sudden

falls? “There are a good many solutions to help in this case”, says

Reiner Wichert, head of the “Interactive Multimedia Appliances”

Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD. “Companies are neverthe-

less reluctant. For years, the ›ambient assisted living‹ field – AAL in

brief – has been going around in circles.

How can these AAL applications be designed in such a way that

they are actually going to be used? This question is addressed by

the researchers of the “Interactive Multimedia Appliances” Compe-

tence Center at Fraunhofer IGD. It becomes especially problematic

if the user needs to set too many functions himself: program the

heating, control the light, and, and, and.

“Many people are already overwhelmed by programming their VCR

or DR. If even more functions are added, it is just too much for

them”, knows Wichert. In order to actually relieve people,

FUTURE AAL

14 FUTURE AAL

technology must run in the background as much as possible,

preferably with automated settings. On the other hand, a limit will

eventually be reached when technology triggers things unwanted

by people. If the ceiling light is turned on for instance, although

the inhabitant is reading and would prefer to only use the light of

the reading lamp, he is annoyed – rightfully so. This is a contradicti-

on the scientists aim to solve.

The different devices must “talk” to each other

“What we need is a different type of communication. The devices

need to understand what the inhabitant wants and exchange

information with each other on how to best satisfy this wish”,

explains Wichert. For instance, when the inhabitant points to a

lamp and says: “This lamp should be dimmed”, then the devices

must take up this request and satisfy it autonomously. In the case

of more complex requests, this includes the fact that the devices

are talking to each other in the background so to speak and find

out on their own which device can make which contribution in

order to fulfill the inhabitant’s desire. Researchers are referring to

this kind of networking as a semantic platform. To date, it is often

the case, however, that solutions by different providers cannot be

linked together and sometimes even cancel each other out.

It is true that various semantic platforms have already been

developed, but so far there has not been a common standard the

European project “universAAL”, numerous research institutions

have therefore joined forces to develop a platform together. Under

the technical coordination of Fraunhofer IGD, all approaches for

such semantic platforms developed in the past ten years were

incorporated. In the meantime, the Europe-wide platform is com-

plete and is currently being tested by 7000 users in seven countries

within the project “ReAAL”.

Recognizing falls in good time

Another problem of Ambient Assisted Living: People do realize

that they need help in case of a fall, for instance. However, they

fear for their privacy if cameras are monitoring their apartment,

for instance, and their relatives are glancing at the recordings to

make sure that the inhabitant is well. Emergency buttons often

make people feel stigmatized, which is why they often do not carry

such auxiliaries around with them. If somebody tumbles and the

emergency button is in a drawer, it won’t be of much help. “If the

15

S H O RT N E W S

I T E M S

MORE SECURITY FOR

BIRTH CERTIFICATES

When applying for a passport, you

need to submit your birth certificate

– at least the first time. But in the

50 states of the USA alone, there

are 10,000 different types of birth

certificates. In Europe, the situation

is not much better. How should an

official be able to recognize whether

the document is authentic? In the

project “FIDELITY”, researchers of

the “Identification and Biometrics”

Competence Center are working on

solutions and concepts in order to

make such identity-based documents

more secure against forgery.

SPONTANEOUSLY ADAPTING

ADVERTISING TO CUSTOMERS

If mainly pensioners and mothers

with small children are flocking to

department stores in the mornings,

even men at their best age are

strolling through the aisles in the

afternoons. Advertising displayed

by the department stores on large

billboards is mostly geared towards

a cross section of all customers. The

researchers of the “Identification

and Biometrics” Competence

Center are now developing a

technology for department stores

to adapt their advertising sponta-

neously to the respectively present

or passing customers.

ambient assisted living approaches are to be successful, we must

place greater emphasis on the users’ needs”, says Wichert. One

example is assistance in recognizing falls, which was developed by

the team around Wichert. Sensors in the floor automatically reco-

gnize whether a person is standing, sitting or lying. If somebody

falls, the CapFloor system calls for help.

CapFloor offers numerous advantages. It is low priced and

recognizes falls reliably. It also does not stigmatize the users, for

it is hidden underneath the floor. No matter if the living area is

covered by carpet, laminate, parquet or PVC, CapFloor works

underneath all of these floor coverings. Although it is integrated

in the flooring, it is easy to maintain. The applications are not only

limited to falls: For instance, the sensors can make the light come

on in the bathroom if the inhabitant is walking in that direction.

It can also recognize burglaries, turn off the heat if nobody is in

the apartment or warn you if electrical devices are left on or if the

window is still open when leaving the apartment.

Contact to other people is important

When elderly people lose their partner, they are often threatened

by solitude. As a consequence, people get worked up by their

ailments. The researchers at Fraunhofer IGD have therefore created

a light version of a social network by means of which the elderly

can find kindred spirits and link up with each other. Its functions

are deliberately kept simple and intuitive. For users to navigate

their way around, the key interaction options are easy to operate

on a tablet PC. 30 users are currently testing this tool in three pilot

regions.

Biometrics – to many people, it used to be synonymous with

passport pictures, most of them not really flattering. And

biometrics has actually lain more or less idle for a long time,

waiting for its breakthrough year by year. Until the recent launch

of the iPhone5s opened new doors for biometrics. On the one

hand, the reason for this hype is certainly to be found in Apple’s

success as a company. And on the other hand, the benefit

of biometrics is clearly for the user, while most people have

considered it to be more of an annoyance when it came to their

passport picture or border controls.

Fingerprint instead of PIN: Is it really more secure?

Instead of entering the four-digit PIN as in the previous models

to use the device, it is enough to place your finger on the home

button of the iPhone5s. This is the button you need to push

anyway to start the device up from stand-by mode. The device

scans the fingerprint, comparing it to the fingerprint on file. If

somebody steals the cell phone, it is perfectly protected from

misuse, as the advertisement claims. Many people fear, however,

that fingerprints are easy to forge – we come across such

accusations everywhere. And they are justified. Still it applies:

Of all possible forgeries, a fingerprint is still more secure than a

four-digit PIN which can be spied out with a lot less effort.

Another fear is going around that Apple might collect user data

on a large scale via their finger-print scanner. This suspicion is

hard to be invalidated. Fact of the matter is: We do not exactly

know what is going on inside the iPhone. Does Apple store the

fingerprint as such on the device or does it convert it into a

pattern only to be used by the respective smartphone? As much

as the iPhone’s users would like to know what happens to their

stored data, the company will not provide this information. The

rumor mill is in overdrive. However, most presumptions are far

from reality, some of them are bordering on conspiracy theories.

If biometrics intends to benefit from the upswing generated

by the iPhone5s, it is indispensible to lift such secrets – namely

through independent institutes. Fraunhofer IGD is such an

independent institute. Inside the evaluation laboratory of our

“Identification and Biometrics” Competence Center, we are

providing the service of analyzing such biometric processes.

THE HYPE ABOUT A SMARTPHONE

THE HYPE ABOUT A SMARTPHONE – FINGERPRINTS AND THE INTEREST IN BIOMETRICS

16

CONTACT ALEXANDER NOUAK

The four-digit P IN is a thing of the past on the new iPhone5s, only the user’s f ingerpr int i s required. The smart -

phone has thus achieved a coup which had long been expected: the breakthrough of biometr ics . Data protect i -

onists , however, are fear ing for the secur i ty of the f ingerpr ints saved. What needs to be considered when i t

comes to biometr ics? And which serv ices might i t provide us with in the future?

THE HYPE ABOUT A SMARTPHONE

Fingerprint does not equal fingerprint

Be it on the iPhone or on passports: Fingerprints can only be

compared if they are saved in a sufficient quality. While this works

perfectly on the iPhone, it is a different story for passports. The

fingerprints saved on them are often so poorly recorded that you

simply cannot work with them. The Netherlands have therefore

already put biometrics on ice again. It would make sense to check

the quality already when taking the fingerprint to make sure it is

sufficient for recognition purposes. It is true that there is already an

algorithm for this verification process. However, its structure is very

simplistic and based on printed fingerprints. Fraunhofer IGD is now

adapting this algorithm on behalf of the Federal Office for Security

in Information Technology (BSI) to digital fingerprints.

Biometrics does not only mean fingerprint – it also inclu-des facial features and ears

The iPhone does attract public attention to biometrics, but only

when it comes to fingerprints. Yet biometrics includes much

more: facial recognition, for instance. In this way, the Federal

Criminal Police Office is hoping to identify wanted criminals, for

instance by means of recordings made by surveillance cameras

during a bank robbery. It is not an easy task, however, for came-

ras are mostly placed underneath the ceiling and are therefore

looking down on people from an unusual angle. It is thus difficult

to compare these crime-relevant recordings in an automated way

– i.e. by computer – with images taken of already known people.

In the project “GES-3D”, not only the profile and the side view of

persons is captured by the police records but also the entire head

is scanned three-dimensionally. Employees of the Federal Criminal

Police Office can turn this 3D image in such a way that the head

appears there in the same angle as on the crime-relevant image.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

is funding the project. If facial recognition is no longer sufficient,

biometrics will “reach” for the ear. The task of Fraunhofer IGD is

to logically combine or fuse the ear-analysis with the facial-recog-

nition findings in order to further increase recognition reliability.

Paying with your biometric signature

The iPhone5s uses biometric data so successfully because the user

himself has the greatest benefit. Such a benefit would also be wel-

come when it comes to paying with your EC or credit card. When

a customer legitimizes the payment with his signature, the cashier

compares it to the autograph on the card. If somebody stole the

card and practiced the signature a little, they can often successfully

deceive the cashier.

It would be much more secure to save the signature as a biometric

characteristic on the card. The customer would then not sign on

the receipt as before but on a pad as used with package deliveries.

The pad then sends these data to the EC or credit card: Not only

does it compare the signature image but also the dynamics of

the signature. How fast does the undersigned draw the individual

strokes? This comparison drastically increases security. In the pro-

cess, the biometric data are only stored on the card without ever

leaving it. We have developed such a system in the “Identification

and Biometrics” Competence Center of Fraunhofer IGD. As with

the iPhone, it would be up to the user to decide whether he

would prefer to complete the process by means of his PIN or his

biometrics, i.e. his signature in this case.

The doors have been opened for biometrics – but they will

only remain open if all parties involved commit to handling the

stored data confidentially. Fraunhofer IGD has made this same

commitment its business.

17

Vein scanner as access control

18 KURZMELDUNG

19INDUSTRY 4.0

Fast-forward to the year 2050 – namely looking at in -

dustr ia l hal ls : Each product looks different, i .e . exact ly

what the part icular customer wants i t to be. The pro -

duct ion machines wi l l “ta lk” to each other, exchange

information, make independent decis ions and control

themselves. Even the products themselves are “intel l i-

gent”: They know at a l l t imes where they are and know

their h istory, their current state as wel l as the way to

their target state. From today’s perspect ive, the descr i-

bed scenar io sounds l ike a sc ience-f ict ion movie. And

yet experts expect that the future wi l l look exact ly l ike

i t . They are ta lk ing about Industry 4.0, i .e . the fourth

industr ia l revolut ion – fol lowing mechanizat ion, e lectr i-

f icat ion and digit izat ion. This “new industry” is to se-

cure Germany as an industr ia l locat ion and also a l low

for a stronger indiv idual izat ion of products. .

CONTACT ANDRE STORCK,

UWE VON LUKAS AND JOHANNES BEHR

“Industry 4.0 won’t come in one fell swoop, it will be more of

an evolution instead of a revolution”, says Uwe Freiherr von

Lukas, head of the Rostock location of Fraunhofer IGD and of the

“Maritime Graphics” Competence Center. Even if it is still going to

take many years until machines will practically talk to each other

and products will think – the first steps in the direction of Industry

4.0 have already been taken. You could also say: The foundation

has been laid. The corner stone consists of cyber-physical systems,

i.e. classic production plants, closely linked to virtual objects and

processes and networked via internet technologies.

20 INDUSTRY 4.0

From the virtual to the real world – and back

The core issue of Industry 4.0 lies in its flexibility. Each customer

should be able to individually co-design his product. Such a flexibility

may only be realized, however, if the entrepreneur can adapt his

production lines accordingly and rearrange the plants at any time.

“The basic prerequisite for flexibility in production is to closely inter-

lock virtual and real world – there must be a smoother transition”,

says von Lukas. Presently, entrepreneurs are mainly relying on virtual

reality when planning new production processes. They optimize

the effective manufacturing of special products in the virtual world

and transfer these findings to the real world. The implementation,

however, often does not correspond to the virtual planning in every

detail. The way back from the real world to the virtual realm is

necessary but hardly followed in practice. If entrepreneurs modify the

production process, these modifications are therefore not to be found

in the virtual plan. “Our goal: We want to be able to easily switch

between the two levels, i.e. between real and virtual world”, explains

André Stork, heading the “Interactive Engineering Technologies”

Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD. “We also refer to this as

cyber-physical equivalence.”

Virtual fork lift collides with real robot arm

Researchers are analyzing in a miniature production line how the

two worlds might be merged together. The core piece is a small

robot moving small barrels back and forth. A depth-sensing camera

is observing the robot’s movements. “With the camera, we capture

the status in the real world ten times per second and transfer it to

the virtual world”, says Stork. If you would like to plan the best

route for a fork-lift truck through this production line, for instance,

the researchers are simply using a virtual fork-lift truck. The high-

light: While the virtual vehicle is moving around the continuously

digitalized factory hall, the system analyzes where and when the

fork-lift truck will collide with the real robot arm.

How well the virtual system responds to real influences in real time

is also shown by the following example: If you point a finger to the

real production line, the system will recognize this as an obstacle

in the way of the virtual fork-lift truck. “This is only the first step in

the direction of cyber-physical equivalence. Once this equivalence

is reached on the level of geometry, function and behavior, we will

have come a giant step closer to the ›Industry 4.0‹ vision”, says von

Lukas.

Visual computing already has advantages today

Researchers are paving the way for Industry 4.0 with their cyber-phy-

sical equivalence. And yet research is not only geared towards the

future: They are already making production processes smoother

today. For instance when it comes to checking deliveries. The

scientists are using the processes in shipyards as an example. Here,

the components are sometimes not delivered as ordered: Bores are

occasionally not in the right place, even some of the eyelets are

misplaced. Mostly, such small deviations only become apparent

when the component is to be installed – then the production is

halted. This is what an early-warning system is to help present, de-

veloped by the researchers of the “Maritime Graphics” Competence

Center at Fraunhofer IGD together with partners in the project

“Dyn3D-Pro”. The employee in the receiving department scans

the component with a laser scanner upon delivery. The computer

automatically reads the 3D data and compares the component

to the purchase order. The system displays any deviations on the

tablet PC – in conjunction with specific instructions to improve the

component.

Just as the delivery, the documentation of key assembly steps must

run smoothly if today’s industry is to evolve into Industry 4.0. If we

stay with the shipyard example, things are still looking bad when it

comes to a process-accompanying documentation of the assembly

process. The Rostock researchers are therefore developing a mobile

application for documentation: The employee will document the

21INDUSTRY 4.0

individual parts actually fit together. In the future, technicians will be

able to retrieve the required data from their smartphone and process

them interactively. In the process, the system automatically analyzes

whether the employee is on site, thus having unlimited access to the

data, or whether he is presently offsite. Then, the system would only

send the finished images to the employee which were calculated on

a server. “The big advantage of our ›Instant3DHub‹ solution is: We

can display any amount of data on any small end device”, says Behr.

“The tool ›Instant3DHub‹ is especially intelligent, takes into account

high security requirements and can very well be combined with other

Industry 4.0 platforms.”

Where will Industry 4.0 lead us?

Industry 4.0 harbors many opportunities: It makes dumb devices

intelligent and rigid production lines flexible. However, there are

also critical voices on this subject. For Industry 4.0 will only prevail if

it is robust, quickly delivers good quality products and offers a high

level of security. “We can hardly expect that the fourth-generation

industry will prevail in all sectors. In automotive manufacturing, for

instance, the production process is so challenging that the Industry

4.0 ideas will catch on very selectively”, supposes Stork. “It might

be different, on the other hand, for the production of hearing aids,

for instance. Here, individualization comes to mind most rapidly.”

Industry 4.0 will come, as researchers agree – though perhaps not

in the same way and at the same speed in all industries.

current status with the camera of the tablet PC or smartphone,

whereupon the system automatically files the photos precisely with

the right coordinates and attaches them to the corresponding places

of the data models. “The project ›eKon‹ allows for a significantly

better and more complete documentation – be it for the customer,

the quality control officer or the author of the manual”, explains von

Lukas.

Teamwork between man and machine

Even if it may seem different at first glance: In Industry 4.0, man will

play a key role. It is true that machines are to control themselves

and communicate with each other, but the decisions must still

be made by man. “Autarchic production systems as we will have

them in Industry 4.0 will make completely different demands on

the man-machine interface”, explains Stork. “If the robot works

independently, it must communicate to man what it is doing. We

therefore want to develop technologies to enable man and machine

to visually communicate with each other.” In order to “see” the

man and recognize his gestures, the robot might look at the world

through camera eyes, for instance.

How do “dumb” devices become smart?

Once the foundation is laid for Industry 4.0 by means of cyber-physical

equivalence and teamwork of man and robot, it becomes about the

actual goal: the “smartification”. “If ›dumb‹ devices and plants are

to talk and make joint decisions, intelligent services must tie them

together, says Johannes Behr, head of the “Visual Computing System

Technologies” Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD.

“In the process, we focus on such services used for the visualization of

plants – for instance in the project ›Instant3DHub‹.

What this means exactly is better explained by example: Car

manufacturers are assembling their cars from more than 50,000

components. They must therefore check beforehand whether the

22 SCIENCE SOAP

actress Nele or much rather the future plans her father made for her.

Auditorium, lab, and Baltic Sea beaches make up the setting: Here,

Nele and the six other young protagonists have to master affairs of the

heart and face academic challenges.

The issue of science is not the only special feature of the science

soap, though: The leading roles are played by students at the Rostock

University for Music and Theatre.

Successful even before the filming

At the end of 2013, “Storm of Knowledge” was broadcast, with

five episodes and a total of approx. 50 minutes in broadcasting

time. The premiere was aired on December 6, then one new

episode was shown every week respectively on the website

www.sturm-des-wissens.de/gucken.

The science soap was already able to reap its first success even

before the filming began. It was awarded as one of ten winning

projects in the “City of Science” competition and funded with

50,000 euros. The guys in Rostock have greatly managed to achie-

ve the goal of the competition, i.e. to let their enthusiasm rub off

on their city and the world of science – even if in an unusual way.

Or perhaps because of it.

Love, intrigues and treason – this range of subjects is expected of

soap operas. But science? This “ingredient” is entirely new in the

soap opera kitchen. And it is precisely this ingredient that makes

the science soap “Storm of Knowledge” so special. This new

genre of soap opera is supposed to be fun just like other soaps

are. But that is not the only thing its inventors aim to achieve.

The science soap is to arouse an interest, namely in the research

location of Rostock and in science per se. “Most people associate

Rostock with wonderful Baltic Sea beaches and beautiful scenery.

But few people know that we also have a traditional university and

institutes of all major German scientific companies here”, explains

Prof. Uwe Freiherr von Lukas, initiator and provider of the idea for

the science soap. Von Lukas is one of the two location managers

of Fraunhofer IGD in Rostock and board member of the society

for scientific marketing [Rostock is thinking 365°]. “As we also

intend to lure more women to the fields of information science

and physics, and as soap operas have a format primarily popular

among female viewers, our society [Rostock is thinking 365°] has

combined something that does not go together at first glance:

science and soap.”

She actually had a solid career plan. But things turned out differently …

The five-part science soap “Storm of Knowledge” is about intrigues,

stealing ideas and – what else would you expect – about love. This

love unexpectedly interferes with the career plan of the leading

SCIENCE SOAP:

LOVE BETWEEN AUDITORIUM AND LAB

That which belongs together must be brought together. But

sometimes even combinations of things turn out great which

nobody would have ever brought together before: for in-

stance soap operas and science. The result was the science

soap “Storm of Knowledge”, which arouses an interest in

the Rostock location and the world of science per se.

CONTACT UWE VON LUKAS

Anke Retzlaff aka Nele Wagner

23EDITORIAL

A minicomputer on your wrist , the smartwatch might become a s imi lar

fast se l ler as smartphones and tablet PCs. Sc ient ists at Fraunhofer IGD

are researching in different projects what the “watches” can do in

healthcare and in industr ia l product ion.

FROM THE BEDROOM TO THE WORKBENCH: SMARTWATCH – THE NEW TOOL

24 SMARTWATCH – THE NEW TOOL

Your thoughts are going around in c i rc les. You rest less-

l y toss and turn in bed, count sheep, let your arms and

legs s ink into the mattress with autogenic tra in ing, but

nothing helps: Your oh-so des i red s leep won’t come.

The hand of the c lock is unstoppably moving forward

– your precious “bedt ime” elapses unused, the level of

f rustrat ion and suffer ing increases. And indeed,

s leeping disorders are not only an annoyance, they

damage your health in the long run. Recent studies

even hold them responsible for burn-outs.

CONTACT BODO URBAN

In order to deal with such sleeping disorders and find their causes,

doctors are analyzing the sleep of those concerned: Different

sensors are helping them in the process, amongst others a watch.

However, it is very expensive at around 1000 euros and therefore

hardly suitable for private individuals. In the future, there will be

a much lower priced alternative. Researchers of the “Interactive

Document Engineering” Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD

have developed a software working on commercially standard

smartwatches. A smartwatch is a watch with internet access like

a smartphone and which can send and receive SMS and emails.

The researchers at Fraunhofer IGD have developed a software for

such smartwatches, which is able to promptly recognize sleeping

anomalies. It derives different information from the sensor data

and analyzes them – for instance bedtimes, length and quality of

sleep. “Our algorithm recognizes movements and compares them

to already known sleeping and waking patterns. In the process,

micro-movements triggered by breathing or the pulse beat as

well as macro-movements such as the twitching of your legs are

registered”, explains Bodo Urban, one of the location managers of

Fraunhofer IGD in Rostock and also presiding over the “Interactive

Document Engineering” Competence Center. Via the radio module

of the smartwatch, the patient can send the recorded data directly

to the lab from the comfort of his own home.

Impact of medication

As valuable as the smartwatches are for sleep analysis, this is not the

entire “repertoire” they have to offer. “In the long term, we would

like to use the smartwatches to analyze how a certain medication

is taking effect, for instance in the treatment of diabetes, epilepsy

or obesity”, says Urban. Researchers are currently working on

algorithms to recognize at which time the sleeping patient becomes

unconscious or moves around less than usual. In this case, the

smartwatch would notify his relatives or doctor. In order to be able

to account for all needs and requirements, the researchers are brin-

ging together all relevant players in the network “TakeCare” – i.e.

service providers, manufacturing companies, clinics, doctors, nursing

staff as well as consultants, developers and researchers.

Intelligent assembly and maintenance for machines

In the healthcare sector, smartwatches have been successfully used

for several years already. Fraunhofer IGD has been there from the

start: Researchers have developed concepts in order to recognize

activities, movements and gestures of a human being by means of a

smartwatch. At the workplace and in production environments, ho-

wever, the clever clocks have so far caught on to a much lesser extent.

Although they have much to offer here, too. “It can be expected that

the smartwatches will undergo a similar development as smartphones

and tablet PCs. These have meanwhile become integral parts at the

workplace”, says Urban. “For even the smartwatches can help make

processes in production more effective and smooth.”

This may take the following form: First, production managers are

planning assemblies at a multitouch table, and then enter the different

work instructions for their employees. “With our technology

Plant@Hand, we bundle information relevant for a certain process,

for instance for a maintenance task. We extract this information from

different systems, displaying it in a graphically interactive application”,

says Urban. The benefit: All workflows are saved to a shared medium.

25

B R I E F N E W S R E P O RT S

SIMPLE “CLICK” INSTEAD OF DIFFI-

CULT SEARCH

If factory operators want to know

which orders are running on which

machines or where there have been

failures, they need to arduously

collect these data from different

systems. The system “Plant@

Hand3D” of the “Interactive Do-

cument Engineering” Competence

Center automatically extracts all

relevant information, bundling it

on a multitouch table in a virtual

three-dimensional factory hall.

NETWORK “BEPRODUCTIVE!”

It is the goal of the “BeProductive”

network to optimize production

and maintenance in mechanical

and plant engineering. Production

processes are to become more

efficient, monitoring and documen-

tation in manufacturing are to be

improved. The focus is mainly on

small and medium-sized enterprises.

The network initiated by the “In-

teractive Document Engineering”

Competence Center of Fraunhofer

IGD is bringing all relevant players

together.

If something changes or a malfunction occurs, the production mana-

ger is able to respond to it flexibly and rapidly.

The employees in the production hall are always in the picture: When

the production manager enters a new work order, the technician

will then receive this order together with an instructional video on a

touchpad. However, it is hard to operate the touchpad wearing gloves

or with a tool in your hand – and this is when the smartwatch comes

into play: With it, the technician may control the video, fast-forward

or rewind or change over to the 3D model of the machine, all without

touching and by using gestures and hand movements only. So the

smartwatch serves as a hands-free control for the tablet PC, but this

is not all. It is also an independent communication tool. For instance,

it helps the technician keep an overview of current order data, stock

lists, tools and auxiliaries. Once the employee closes the instructional

video for a work order, the watch automatically sends this information

to the multitouch table, thus marking it as done. The push of a button

or a gesture is sufficient to start a new work order.

Industrial safety

Another example from the work environment is the operation of

heavy machinery, such as pneumatic hammers. In order to protect

workers from the vibrations, the pressure is first measured in the lab.

Based on the results, guidelines are created to stipulate when the

worker needs to take a break. If the worker is wearing a smartwatch

while working with a pneumatic hammer, however, then the clever

clock would be able to measure the vibrations actually occurring at

the wrist and warn him of overstress.

26 THE DISPUTE ABOUT THE WINDMILL

The software “3D-Vis” empowers communication

It would be welcome if those concerned, planners and decision

makers from politics and business, were able to communicate with

each other more peacefully and matter-of-factly. This is precisely the

goal of the “Spatial Information Management” Competence Cen-

ter at Fraunhofer IGD with the project “Interactive 3D Visualization

in Spatial Planning”, “3D-Vis” in short. The software we developed

is based on a three-dimensional presentation of the surroundings.

On such a map, the planners may position different wind wheels.

The software calculates the shadows cast, the noise generated and

the visibility of the windmills.

If planners would like to report the current status to citizens, they

may use a multitouch table for this purpose – a type of oversized

tablet PC. On it, a resident might for instance click on his house

and get an impression of how loudly the rotor blades would be

humming there. And, in comparison, how loud would the nearby

freeway be? By means of this tool, citizens may already suggest

improvements at the planning stage or maybe even find their fears

to be unfounded. In turn, planners can present alternative solutions

and respond to the citizens’ concerns long before the construction

is started.

Many companies and ministries are involved in the planning of

power lines. We have deliberately invited them to join the advisory

board of the “3D-Vis” project to cover the full range of all parties

involved. As sample projects, we are developing two specific power

line segments together with the line planner “Tennet”.

Nuclear power stations have to go, the wind is to supply Germany

with power instead – this statement is met with much approval. If

the wind park is to stretch out towards the heavens in your direct

neighborhood, however, the enthusiasm is gone quickly. Then, fear

dominates of the shadows being cast, the rotors’ humming and

the view of the rotor wings instead of the woodland behind them.

Wind power yes, but not in front of my own door, please.

Even power lines are often the cause for annoyance among

residents. Nobody enjoys the view of a huge power pole from

their balcony. In the residents’ view, the new lines are the buck

they would prefer to pass on to the neighboring village. But the

energy turnaround cannot do without them. For the wind parks are

mostly located in the north of Germany, with the southern states

consuming the bulk of the electricity. So the energy generated must

somehow be transported south, namely via power lines.

There is no way around new wind parks and additional lines. A lot

needs to be taken into account for the planning process: Where are

nature-protection and residential areas located? Which concerns

do residents have and how can they best be addressed? It is true

that planners are legally obligated to inform residents, but this is

often done with representations which are anything but clear. The

beginning of the construction phase then equals a rude awakening.

Sometimes there is a great uproar when action groups vehemently

fight the planning. The best example is the “Stuttgart21” train

station.

THE DISPUTE ABOUT THE WINDMILL – ENERGY TURNAROUND AND CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT

"Wind power yes, but rather not in our neighborhood.. ." The new communicat ion tool “3D-Vis” s imulates the

impact of wind parks, helps conceive power l ines and involves c i t izens more in the planning process. Even in

urban planning, planners as wel l as act ion groups are supported: by the “CityServer3D”.

CONTACT JOACHIM RIX

Even urban planners are drawing closer to citizens

Disputes about planned construction measures do not only break

out in the field of power supply, but also in urban planning. With

“CityServer3D”, Fraunhofer IGD is providing the software needed

to graphically illustrate any planning.

This technology is taken advantage of by the “Urban Agile Policy

Implementation” project, “UrbanAPI” in short: The Spanish city

of Vitoria-Gasteiz is already using “CityServer3D” for the redesign

of its main road. The German state of Hesse, on the other hand,

is using the software to define the priority areas for wind parks

and inquire about citizens’ concerns online. “CityServer3D” allows

planners to respond to the fears and concerns of those involved

at an early stage and avoid a rude awakening at the start of

construction.

INTERVIEW

INVOLVING CITIZENS

AT AN EARLY STAGE

Be i t wind parks, power l ines or tra in stat ions: Any

planning is often diff icult for c i t izens to understand.

So disputes break out by the t ime construct ion work

starts . Dr. Joachim Rix, head of the “Spat ia l Informati -

on Management” Competence Center at Fraunhofer

IGD, expla ins how such conf l icts can be avoided in the

future.

The new technologies allow developers to counter conflicts al-

ready at the planning stage. How does that work exactly?

The system “3D-Vis” visually prepares available information and

planning, illustrating them in a comprehensible way. It thus becomes

easier than before for those concerned to comprehend the planning.

Some concerns may already be dispelled in this way. If concerns re-

main, citizens will be able to address them earlier and stand a chance

of the plans being modified accordingly.

Could this technology have defused the situation around

“Stuttgart21”?

The main point is involving citizens at an early stage – namely in a

graphical way. In Stuttgart, many people only became aware of all the

changes when the construction work had started. Informing people at

an early stage can strongly increase the acceptance of such projects.

The planning tool “CityServer3D” is to facilitate urban plan-

ning. Has it already been used in the interest of citizens?

Yes, for instance in Mainz. A new shopping mall is planned in the

downtown area here. The urban planners have created a 3D model of

the planned mall on which citizens were able to post their comments.

In this way, many indications were produced that the building would

obstruct the view of the dome. The planners then set back the facade

in the upper section, thus preserving the view of the dome.

How do planners respond to the greater ability of involving

citizens? Can we really expect them to involve citizens more?

In the development of our software at Fraunhofer IGD, we speci-

fically cooperated with urban planners who are open to taking greater

account of those concerned. But of course there are also planners

showing resistance in this respect. Planning pioneers are key. We have

sought and also found those.

28 EDITORIAL

From the v i r tual V ienna centra l stat ion v ia factory planning al l the way to a personal

dr iver ass istance system – the researchers of Fraunhofer Austr ia are cover ing a wide

range of appl icat ions. This i s despite the fact that Fraunhofer Austr ia is st i l l very young:

In November 2013, the research organizat ion celebrated i ts f if th anniversary.

FRAUNHOFER AUSTRIA – A SHORT REVIEW FORWARD

29EDITORIAL

Typhoon Choi-wan of 15 September 2009 in a 3D animation. Be it a hurricane, a storm surge or flooding

– researchers are attempting to forecast these natural disasters caused by the weather via satellite data.

In the research project “V-MANIP”, the “Visual Computing” business unit of Fraunhofer Austria Research

GmbH, Graz, is working together with five Austrian consortium partners to improve the early warning

system by three-dimensional illustrations.

30 5 YEARS FRAUNHOFER AUSTRIA

already be able to optimize the guiding systems as early as in the

planning stage, thus saving expensive structural modifications later.”

In a four-sided CAVE, called "DAVE", a room with three sides and one

floor projection, 120 test persons of different ages “walked” through

the virtual Vienna central station. And this long before the foundations

were even laid for the train station. The test persons were able to

move through aisles, up and down escalators and towards the tracks.

3D glasses made everything seem realistic. All test persons were given

different tasks, for instance finding a certain track or buying a bouquet

of flowers in the shopping mile. By means of an eye-tracking system,

researchers are now able to recognize what exactly the test persons

were looking at – and thus determine at which locations information

signs would best be noticed.

On the fast track to an ideal factory

When it comes to the Vienna central station, the researchers in Graz

are cooperating with external partners. Other projects, on the other

hand, go hand in hand with the Vienna colleagues from the “Logi-

stics and Production Planning” business unit. This is the case when

it comes to factory planning. Whenever engineers are designing

new production halls, they need to keep an eye on all processes: for

instance the individual machines, the distance between them and

their capacity as well as the size of the storage areas. In doing so, the

engineers first draft a two-dimensional plan of the factory hall, then

change the program, transferring all details to a three-dimensional

plan.

In the future, engineers will be able to do without such double work,

namely by means of the software “GrAPPA”, short for “Graphic

Plant and Production Line Planning Assistant”. “GrAPPA” includes

all of those functions engineers previously needed to use different

programs for – the software offers all common analyses in a single

step. Ideally, the planners are thus saving half of their work time. In

addition, “GrAPPA” helps identify bottlenecks, for instance undersi-

zed machines, and calculates how big storage areas need to be. In

CONTACT EVA EGGELING

Let’s travel through time a little, namely to the year 2007: At that

time, today’s employees of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Graz certainly

did not have an inkling that they would celebrate an anniversary in

November 2013. It is similarly unlikely for them to have assumed

that their work group would already have evolved into a limited-li-

ability company and direct subsidiary of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft at

this time. Five years ago, there had been only two Austrian project

offices, one of which was located in Graz and one in Vienna. These

offices were the breeding ground for Fraunhofer Austria Research

GmbH, which has been uniting the two offices under one roof

since 2008. One of the two managing directors is Dieter Fellner, at

the same time Director of Fraunhofer IGD.

The “Visual Computing” Business Unit in Graz is headed by Eva

Eggeling. When she took over its management in the year of

formation 2008, it consisted of two employees. Meanwhile, twelve

scientists are working under her leadership. “Most of all, we are

very successful in national projects funded by the Austrian Research

Promotion Agency FFG”, says Eggeling.

“Scavenger hunt” through the virtual Vienna central station

There is a myriad of billboards, information panels and sign posts at

train stations. If you do not know your way around, it will often be

difficult to find the train tracks or toilets in the midst of this chaos.

The researchers in Graz acquired one of the first projects “Imitate”

and are now further developing it in the project “Moving” – under

the leadership of the Austrian Institute of Technology AIT. Here, it is all

about the new Vienna central station which has meanwhile taken up

partial operation. “In the project ›Moving‹, we would like to analyze

whether a virtual environment is generally suited to evaluate and opti-

mize guiding systems – be it information panels, mobile navigation on

your cell phone or location maps”, says Eggeling. “For then you would

31 5 JAHRE FRAUNHOFER AUSTRIA

the “iPlan PL” project as well, the colleagues from Graz and Vienna

are pulling in one direction. This is all about optimizing the material

flow while keeping an eye on production and logistics KPIs as well.

The sixth sense for air-traffic controllers

Not only factory halls are hustling and bustling, it is also difficult to

maintain an overview of an airport or the airspace – so difficult that

the profession of an air-traffic controller is considered to be one of

the most demanding jobs aviation has to offer. “In the ›6thSense‹

project, we are providing air-traffic controllers with a sixth sense”,

explains Eva Eggeling. “In doing so, we analyze which input devices

and sensors make the air-traffic controller’s job more pleasant and

safe. Via sensors and actors, a depth camera and an eye-tracking

system, the software collects as much information as possible and

synchronizes it. If the air-traffic controller issues an unusual com-

mand, the system responds with a question. Technology is to provide

the best possible support for the air-traffic controller’s job – decisions

are nevertheless made by human beings. “In such a complex task

as the coordination of airplanes in the airspace, human beings do

represent the greatest risk but also the biggest asset we have”, says

Eggeling.

The personal driver assistance system

The “MueGen Driving” project is also about traffic safety – however

not in airspace but on the road. The background: Women act differently

behind the wheel than men, and young people might drive faster than

older people. Driver assistance systems, however, intervene in the same

way with all drivers. The researchers in Graz are analyzing, with a driving

simulator and a corresponding study, what these differences are exactly

like, thus laying the foundation for gender- and age-specific personal

driver assistance systems. If we look into the future, while still traveling

through time, our car might soon say to us as we get in it: “Please enter

your sex and age.”

N E W S F L A S H

VITAL PARAMETERS

Paper is piling up on your desk, your

email inbox is filled to the brim, the

phone is ringing off the hook. With this

level of stress, a break would be ur-

gently needed every once in a while to

rest your body and mind. But especially

in stressful situations, breaks are often

forgotten. In the future, employees will

be able set their office chair to remind

them of breaks: Sensors in the backrest

are measuring the breathing rate of

the person sitting in the chair. When

the stress level rises, your breathing will

automatically speed up.

Once the vital parameter breathing rate

reaches a certain level, the system will

issue a warning: “Please take a short

break.” Otherwise, you might run the

risk of a burn-out in the long term.

Sleeping disorders can also be analyzed

by means of vital parameters: Sensors

integrated in the mattress will measure

which impact environmental factors

such as temperature and lighting

conditions have on your sleep.

BIG DATA

Business Intelligence – comprehending long columns of data more quickly

Big decisions are not just weighing on the shoulders of politici-

ans, but also on those of entrepreneurs. With the book “Visual

Business Analytics: Effective access to data and information”

we are therefore offering guidelines to entrepreneurs as to

how they can penetrate large amounts of data by means of

visualizations.

Particularly large amounts of data piling up at companies are also

referred to as “Big Data”. Up to a certain extent, computers are

able to automatically analyze such data amounts. An important

stage of most evaluations, however, is the human being cont-

rolling the results and putting them in the right context. In this

process, computer and operator used to work separately for the

most part. Via “Visual Analytics”, we would like to interlock the

abilities of operator and computer more closely: The operator is

to see at all times what the system is doing, be able to interfere

and thus improve the analysis overall. For the expert has the

better overview of the relevant aspects. “Visual Analytics” is able

to provide valuable support to experts in their decision-making

and work out alternatives – it cannot and should not make any

decisions for the experts.

.

Imagine somebody describing a certain procedure to you down

to the last detail. It is highly likely that an idea of this procedure

will more or less take shape in front of your inner eye. If you

try to remember this information two days later, however, it

has often already vanished. But if we see this procedure with

our own eyes, we are often able to remember it weeks later.

The reason being: Visual impressions are anchored more deeply

in our brains. The same applies to decisions we need to make.

This context is used for various applications by the “Information

Visualization and Visual Analytics” Competence Center of

Fraunhofer IGD.

Wind power or solar energy? Decision-making aid for politicians

Be it for urban planning or the energy turnaround – politicians

have many decisions to make. But what is the right choice?

Which alternatives exist? Even in supposedly simple questions, it

is a complex matter to penetrate the respective topics.

If, for instance, the decision “wind power versus solar energy”

is pending, an analyst first sets different requirements: Would

he simply like to be supplied with as much green electricity

as possible? Or does he want as much green electricity while

keeping the number of power lines to a minimum? The system

analyzes the data and proposes different alternatives to the

decision maker, in a visual overview. The politician himself can

run through the alternatives and thus better penetrate them in

his thoughts.

BIG DATA

VISUALIZATIONS HELP – VISUAL DECISION-MA-KING AID IN AN EVER MORE COMPLEX WORLD

What we can see with our own eyes is eas ier to understand than things we only hear about or see in front of us

as columns of f igures. We are us ing this context at Fraunhofer IGD in order to support decis ion makers – namely

with a tool to analyze and v isual ly process ex ist ing data.

CONTACT JÖRN KOHLHAMMER

32

33BIG DATA

An anticyclone from the southwest is moving into Europe, bringing

warm air and driving out the depression which has been causing rain-

falls for days – weather maps are structured in such a way that anyone

is able to interpret them. It is much more difficult, on the other hand,

to convert more abstract data, such as on credit-card fraud or power

consumption, into graphic images.

But our world of information overload has made comprehensible

presentation increasingly important, even for complex content. In this

regard, computer graphics has many possibilities to offer. At Fraun-

hofer IDM@NTU, the sister of Fraunhofer IGD based in Singapore,

we are working on several projects in this context. As different as the

individual applications may be, the challenge remains the same: We

want to make this complex world of information comprehensible

by presenting it in a limited display window – as on a tablet PC or

multitouch table.

At the airport or inside the container terminal: grasping everything at a glance

Let’s look at a control center for instance, be it at the container port

or the airport. Pieces of information flow non-stop, but all of them

separately: some flicker across video screens while others arrive at the

employee’s desk in long columns of numbers. The employees must be

well trained and also practiced in mentally linking all data. The system

we are developing automatically collects the relevant data from

different sources, converts them into comprehensible visual patterns

and finally provides them interactively on a multitouch table, a type of

large tablet PC. If there are any irregularities, the employees will notice

them right away. We are venturing to cast a glance into the future:

Based on certain patterns, the system will recognize where a problem

might arise in advance and issue a corresponding warning.

Visual learning

The visual presentation of complex issues does not only bring

benefits to the workplace but also to the field of education.

Together with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang

Technological University in Singapore, we are testing how to use

a multitouch table for teamwork in the project “Touch & Learn”.

Moreover, we have developed a software for anatomical training,

“Augmented Anatomy”: The medical faculty of Kong Chian School

has provided their 54 newly enrolled medical students each with

an iPad including this software. Whenever the students point the

tablet PC to a plastic anatomical model, it will show an image of

the real model while fading in further information. For one thing

applies to all application fields: Visual presentations allow us to

grasp correlations at a glance.

COMPREHENDING COMPLEX DATA AT A GLANCE

By smartphone and tablet PC, information is constantly avai lable. In the case of more complex data, however, it is

diff icult to get an overview by “cl icking” and “zooming” as usual. Researchers at Fraunhofer IDM@NTU in Sin-

gapore therefore graphical ly represent complex data.

CONTACT WOLFGANG MÜLLER-WITTIG

34 VISUAL COMPUTING IN MODERN MEDICINE

A patient complains about trouble swallowing and breathing and

wanted to consult a physician. The diagnosis is sobering: cancer

in the head-neck area. Doctors treat such tumors with radiation

therapy which has proven its worth many times over. In the

process, they “attack” the cancerous ulcer with highly energetic

rays, e.g. X-rays, in order to destroy it. If the tumor is located in

the head-neck area, however, physicians are faced with a special

challenge. There are many sensitive organs very close together in a

confined space. Radiation therapists must therefore precisely plan

the radiation: The tumor is to be completely destroyed, but the

surrounding healthy tissue is to be damaged as little as possible.

This will only succeed if radiologists know exactly where which

anatomical structures are located. For this purpose, they first

perform a CT scan on the patient. Next, they evaluate the

three-dimensional images layer by layer, highlighting important

organs by mouse click. Where is the bone marrow located, which

are the blood vessels, and where is the larynx? Usually, this takes

several hours – time doctors would rather use for their patients.

In such cases, computer graphics offer great potential: Owing to

visual computing, such tasks can be taken on by computers in

the future, thus relieving physicians. Researchers of Fraunhofer

IGD have developed the corresponding method together with

the Sana Clinic of Offenbach, the University Clinic of Gießen

and Marburg and Medcom GmbH from Darmstadt. “The new

procedure allows us to identify more than 20 relevant structures

automatically”, says Dr. Stefan Wesarg, head of the “Medical

Imaging and Cognitive Computing” Competence Center at

Fraunhofer IGD. “These are all the structures our clinical part-

ners deem important. While a doctor takes several hours for the

evaluation, however, the computer will have the result available

within five minutes already.” This project is called “KOHALA”

– short for head-neck atlas for radiation therapy. The German

state of Hesse is funding the project within the scope of the

research promotion program “LOEWE”.

Computer-tomographical images reveal a lot . But not by themselves: Before the CT scans disc lose their secrets ,

doctors must evaluate them manual ly . In doing so, phys ic ians sacr if ice valuable t ime, which they would prefer to

spend with their pat ients. V isual computing – computer graphics – bears a lot of potent ia l here: Whi le i t takes a

doctor several hours, the computer wi l l complete a process within just a few minutes.

CONTACT STEFAN WESARG

VISUAL COMPUTING IN MODERN MEDICINE – VISIONS, PERSPECTIVES, OPPORTUNITIES

35VISUAL COMPUTING IN MODERN MEDICINE

liver is created by the scientists in this project. How much fat

accumulates in the liver due to wrong dietary habits? How

high is therefore the risk that these children will suffer from

cardiovascular diseases later on in adulthood?

Accompanying patients on a long-term basis

The researchers’ goal is not only to automate diagnostics. At

the same time, they would like to find out how the patients

develop and which therapy is producing which results in which

patients. For a lot can be learned for the treatment of other

patients. In order to see how the tumor has evolved over the

course of time, computers are able to put the image data taken

at different times on top of each other and compare them.

Did the tumor shrink? How did the lymph nodes change? The

computer can only compare images, however, if the tumor was

recorded in exactly the same way. If a patient with a tumor in

his neck area has a different head posture, for instance, the

position of the cancerous ulcer will also change. Due to the

pressure of the surrounding tissue, it might even be a little

deformed. In the EU project “Oramod”, researchers therefore

distort the data sets in such a way that the tumor is accurately

positioned in both images – thus enabling the computer to

independently analyze the development of the cancerous ulcer.

“Visual computing carries great potential. On the one hand,

computer graphics will relieve doctors in the future by taking

on time-consuming tasks. On the other hand, it allows them to

offer patients a better treatment”, Stefan Wesarg is convinced.

“We expect this technology to sustainably change everyday

hospital routines.”

Organ atlas for computers

For computers to evaluate tomographic images, they need a

matching anatomical model; researchers are referring to this

as “Computational Anatomy”. In other words: The computer

needs information input on what the relevant organs look like.

This knowledge is extracted by researchers from image data

provided by their clinical partners. The images originate from

several patients, usually between 40 and 100 human beings.

The following applies: The more data researchers evaluate, the

better the final computer models will turn out.

“We are talking about Big Data, a major trend to accompany us

for years to come”, says Stefan Wesarg. But what exactly does

this term mean? “Big Data” roughly translates as “large amounts

of data” and aims at utilizing the increasing number of produced

data in the best way possible. The ever increasing data mass

must be recorded, evaluated, visualized, scanned, analyzed and

saved – namely by means of different methods and technologies.

For researchers, this means: They are using as many different

patient images as possible in order to create their models.

On these images, doctors have already highlighted different

organs, e.g. liver or spleen. Researchers evaluate these details,

thus gaining information on what any given organ looks like on

average and which variations there might be. For human organs

come in different sizes and shapes, of course.

With this anatomical model in the background, the computer

can automatically find and highlight the relevant organs on new

images. And this not only applies for patients suffering from

cancer in the head and neck area but also for other body parts

of completely different patients.

In the project “MD-Paedigree”, for instance, researchers are

creating a model for a child’s ankle. How does the joint change

in case of inflammations? Even a model of the small patients’

36 PORTRÄT STEGERS

Reconci l ing fami ly and profess ional l ife is not

easy for many parents. Frequent ly , companies

turn out to be less fami ly-fr iendly than they

make bel ieve. This i s d ifferent with Fraunhofer

IGD.

OFFICE AS A NURSING ROOM

37OFFICE AS A NURSING ROOM

When the Steger offspring was born in October 2012, Teena

stayed home during her maternity leave. Then, both parents took

parental leave while working part-time. “We thought about which

combination of working hours would best allow us to reconcile

our jobs and family, and discussed our ideas with our supervisor”,

remembers Sebastian Steger. The result is exemplary: “It was only

important to our supervisor that Teena and I would both spend

some time at the institute every day and thus be available.” At

first, Teena Steger worked four hours in the mornings, her hus-

band six hours in the afternoons. After six months, they switched.

“This is how I stayed employed despite my maternity leave, was

able to keep in touch with my boss and coworkers, and there is no

gap in my resume”, smiles Teena Steger.

Although Sohan‘s mother went back to work quite soon after

giving birth, she fully breastfed her son for six months. During

this time, Sebastian Steger stopped by the office with the little

one once a day when Teena was at work. For the breastfeeding,

the institute converted an extra office into a nursing room – other

families were also happy to use this opportunity. For this purpose,

Fraunhofer specifically purchased a comfortable chair and a

changing table, which the Steger family was even allowed to help

select.

Business trips often disrupt such arrangements, generating

enormous stress for the parents. Where to take the child when the

father is not at home? The institute offers uncomplicated solutions

even in these cases: The Stegers are able to swap their working

hours. If Sohan is sick, even spontaneously. “If my husband is

traveling on business, for instance, I’m able to stay home with

Sohan and finish my work later; it’s really a great arrangement”,

smiles Teena.

Not only “Fraunhofer Family”, but also “Fraunhofer Romance”

Even the beginnings of the Steger family originate at Fraunhofer

IGD: Teena and Sebastian met there at work in 2009. In April

2010, they fell in love with each other, but kept their relationship

to themselves at first. The rumor mill would not simmer down,

though. Three months later, the couple confirmed the gossip,

making their relationship public. Another year later, Sebastian

walked down the aisle with Teena.

Meanwhile, the couple has turned into a family, Sohan is already

one and a half years old. He will start going to daycare in February

– this is when Teena and Sebastian Steger will both increase their

working hours.

For women pregnancy means at f i rst a t ime-out from their career. When they return to their jobs, i t i s often

diff icult to push through suitable part-t ime arrangements. This i s d ifferent with the Steger fami ly : Sebast ian and

Teena Steger both work at Fraunhofer IGD and were able to f ind out that the approach there is fami ly-fr iendly.

And that is not only in theory but a lso when i t counts: in pract ice.

38 EDITORIAL

Visual computing covers a wide range of appl icat ions: The researchers of Fraun -

hofer IGD have therefore grouped their competences in f ive research areas.

These are not r ig id ly standing s ide by s ide, but interwoven. Typical ly , competen -

ces from more than one research area contr ibute to our projects .

RESEARCH ON THE LINE

CVCG

HCI

SIM MOD

COMPUTER VISIONCOMPUTER GRAPHICS

HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

(INTERACTIVE) SIMULATION

MODELING

39

Every research area is strong – but together they are stronger

The five research areas are not standing alone but are interconnec-

ted. These interrelations in particular account for the extensive

expertise of Fraunhofer IGD, positioning us to ideally respond to

industrial inquiries. Nearly all of our research projects can serve as

examples for such networking.

Let’s single out the interaction between computer vision and

modeling. The projects show the wide range of applications based

on two of the same research areas. The project “KOHALA” is

about the automatic recognition of organs and structures in the

head-neck area to better plan radiation therapy. In the project

“CultLab3D”, we create 3D models of museum objects to better

analyze and archive them as well as preserve them for posterity.

The “GES-3D” in turn is about biometric facial recognition to

identify criminals on crime-scene photos. As different as all of

these applications may be, their scientific background is the same.

We specialize less on the applications per se than much more on

the required foundations and technologies – utilizing them for

different applications.

The five research areas are based on the virtual world. With the

new “3D Printing Technology” Competence Center, Fraunhofer

IGD is also pursuing the way from the virtual world back to reality.

The researchers of this competence center are figuring out how

to print out three-dimensional models in such a way that they

resemble the original as closely as possible, in shape as well as

in perceived surface color. Pretty much anything can be printed

out – scans of old Roman vases as much as models of technical

components.

Medical d iagnost ic s , preser vat ion of cul tura l her i tage,

b iometr ic s – Fraunhofer IGD of fer s a wide range of re -

search topic s . And people somet imes cannot direc t ly

corre late the term "Computer Graphic s" in the name of

Fraunhofer IGD with speci f ic content. Where exac t ly

l ies the know-how of this ins t i tute? In order to s take

out competences and make them more tangib le to out-

s iders , we focus on f ive research areas . These are the

focal point s of our work.

There is one thing all five research areas have in common: They

are based on the virtual world, i.e. the computer model, by means

of which we attempt to record the real world on computers. In

the “Computer Graphics” research area, our scientists are using

virtuality for information to take shape in the form of images. In the

“Computer Vision” research area, we are turning the tables: Here, we

analyze and interpret real images, converting them into information.

Regarding the “Human Computer Interaction” research area, the

name speaks for itself. We develop technologies allowing man and

machine to work together more effectively. For despite all technology,

the human is and will always be at the center. Technology is to support

man, but not make decisions for him.

Competence resummarized

The competence of the “Simulation” research area lies in the virtual

reproduction of objects as well as the visualization of their behavior,

directly influencing them. An automaker, for instance, would be able

to simulate whether a new car model provides enough space to

change the bulb inside the headlights. In the “Modeling” research

area, we research different model types: These may be two-dimensio-

nal models such as maps, but also three-dimensional models such as

buildings as well as higher dimensioned complex models.

THE NEW RESEARCH AREAS OF FRAUNHOFER IGD

RESEARCH ON THE LINE

40 TRADE SHOWS AND EVENTS

TRADE FAIRS AND EVENTS

Every year, we wonder why we keep returning to trade shows? Does i t have any benef i t at a l l? I t i s d iff icult to

assess at the end of the day. I t could be quant if ied in the number of contacts made. But how do they real ly

contr ibute to the inst i tute's performance? This only substant iates i tse lf after a certa in t ime. But one thing is

a lways sure: What would a l l those business tr ips cost if we had to v is i t each good contact indiv idual ly? This

project ion compared to the cost of t rade shows should convince any account ing department.

For Fraunhofer IGD, most trade show years start off with a highlight

for the IT industry, CeBIT, followed by the world’s largest industrial

fair in Hanover. Throughout the year, our competence centers

are represented at specialist events such as the Digital Heritage

or the EuroMold, or they organize their own workshops like the

Science-meets-Business events.

CeBIT 2013

In line with the main focus of the trade show – Big Data – Fraun-

hofer IGD and Fraunhofer IDM@NTU presented two exhibits. Both

showed procedures and solutions mastering complex amounts of

information, correlating them and providing visual decision-making

aids. With its visual-analytics technologies, Fraunhofer IGD is

setting trends for future security applications on the internet, fraud

prevention and public safety.

With “on-card comparison”, CeBIT visitors were able to see how

users can safely and more easily execute non-sovereign tasks such

as bank transactions with biometrics. During this process, the

biometric signature of the card user and the legitimate card owner

are compared directly on the card. The biometric reference data are

safely stored on the smartcard without ever leaving it.

Together with T-Systems Multimedia Solutions, Fraunhofer IGD

presented an augmented-reality solution by means of which service

technicians are precisely guided through the maintenance process

of an aircraft undercarriage on a mobile smartpad. This solution

saves working hours on complex maintenance and service tasks on

aircraft, in particular if not all required experts are on location.

Hannover Messe

At the world’s largest industrial fair in Hanover, the focal points of

Fraunhofer IGD were the research results of interactive assembly

planning with “Plant@Hand”, the visualization of simulation results

on mobile devices and conflict management with visual computing.

In 2013, our researchers added a 3D component to

“Plant@Hand”. Specifically, this means that “Plant@Hand3D”

provides engineers intuitive access to product planning data by me-

ans of a 3D machine shop model. At a multitouch control station,

engineers are able to interactively access all important information

of the production process.

Fraunhofer IGD is able to visualize, in 3D, its interactive simulation

results for aircraft and automotive manufacturing by means of new

tools in the web browser on mobile end devices such as smartpho-

nes and tablet PCs. This is based on iFX visualization technologies

and the open-source framework “X3DOM”.

Visual-computing technologies help better manage conflicts of

interest frequently arising in urban planning. They facilitate, for

instance, the location search for new railways or roads, analyze the

overall situation comprehensively and make the communication of

the existing options much more transparent and illustrative..

Science meets Business

Science-meets-Business events reflect what Fraunhofer incorpo-

rates: a bridge between research and industry. The Fraunhofer IT

Automotive Day presented IT trends and IT potentials for vehicles.

It focused on virtual technologies for product design, the safety of

Embedded Systems and controlling the knowledge process and in-

formation flows for automotive industry companies. The Fraunhofer

IT Automotive Day addressed these issues: How do mobile devices

and expanding networks change the automotive industry and what

can research do to further advance innovation?

In 2013, the Go Visual event looked at how mobile devices and

expanding networks are changing the work of maintenance techni-

cians, assemblymen or installers in manufacturing. Particularly in

manufacturing, the right maintenance technician must be provided

with all required information. The network “BeProductive” is

working on how to make more use of technologies or devices such

as smartphones, tablet PCs and smartwatches in manufacturing and

to improve information flows via visual aids.

Digital Heritage

The conference Digital Heritage 2013 was the largest event to

date on the topic of digital cultural assets. It gathered around 700

representatives from the research and academic communities,

industry and politics, to discuss and present digital technologies to

preserve, document and comprehend cultural assets. The associated

exhibition was open to the public and recorded more than 6000

visitors.

For Fraunhofer IGD, the conference’s success was twofold: Scientists

of Fraunhofer IGD won the TAE Best Paper Award with their paper

on the digital recording of dance choreography via body tracking.

And the scanline “CultLab3D” for the 3D digitization of artifacts

was awarded the prize for the best technical exhibit there.

Euromold

Industry 4.0 is not passing us by, either. On the contrary, we are

right in the middle of it. In 2013, our longstanding research in

interactive simulation or virtual reality was given a tangible generic

term with Industry 4.0. At the Euromold 2013 in Frankfurt am

Main, Fraunhofer IGD presented solutions for the digital factory

with cyber-physical equivalence. It is the idea behind Cyber Physical

Systems to connect the digital and the real world: All working steps

in the entire production process are first created in the digital re-

production, and this procedure is then transferred to reality. In turn,

whatever happens in the factory is digitally recorded and reflected

back to the virtual world.

Trade fairs and events 2013Here is a small selection of trade shows and events in which

Fraunhofer IGD participated in 2013.

AAL Congress 2013, Berlin, Germany, January 22–23, 2013

Jugend forscht (youth researches) 2013 – regional competiti-

on of Southern Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany, February 20, 2013

CeBIT 2013, Hanover, Germany, March 5–9, 2013

Hanover Fair 2013, Hanover, Germany, April 08–12, 2013

Siggraph 2013, Anaheim, USA, July 21–25, 2013

Paris Air Show 2013, Paris, France, June 17–23, 2013

Fraunhofer Automotive-IT-Day 2013, Darmstadt, Germany,

June 13, 2013

Go-3D 2013, Rostock, Germany, August 29, 2013

Go Visual 2013 – Visual Worker Guidance in Assembly, Service

and Maintenance, Berlin, Germany, September 26, 2013

INTERGEO, Essen, Germany, October 08–10, 2013

Digital Heritage 2013, Marseille, France, Oct. 28 – Nov. 1, 2013

euroID, Frankfurt/M., Germany, November 05–07, 2013

5 Years Fraunhofer Austria, Graz, Austria, November 19, 2013

EuroMold 2013, Frankfurt/M., Germany, December 03–06, 2013

www.igd.fraunhofer.de/en/EventsMessen

42 FRAUNHOFER IGD IM PROFIL

FRAUNHOFER IGD IN PROFILE

Fraunhofer IGD is the world‘s leading inst i tute for appl ied research in v isual

computing. V isual computing is image- and model-based information techno -

logy and inc ludes computer graphics, computer v is ion, as wel l as v i r tual and

augmented real i ty . In s imple terms, the Fraunhofer researchers in Darmstadt,

Rostock, Graz and Singapore are turning images into information and extrac -

t ing information from images. Prototypes and integrated solut ions are de -

veloped in accordance with customized requirements. The research and des ign

projects are direct ly re lated to current economic issues.

43FRAUNHOFER IGD IN PROFILE

For over 25 years, Fraunhofer IGD has been developing technolo-

gies and applications based on visual computing. In cooperation

with its partners, technical solutions and market-relevant products

are created. In doing so, Fraunhofer IGD places users at the

forefront, providing them with technical solutions to facilitate

computer work and make it more efficient. The institute’s solutions

are dealing with the highly developed ability of the human brain

to quickly grasp and process complex issues visually. Owing to its

numerous innovations, Fraunhofer IGD raises man-machine inter-

action to a new level. Man is able to work in a more result-oriented

and effective way by means of the computer and visual-computing

developments.

As early as in 1987, the story of Fraunhofer IGD began with the

task force established by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft at TU Darmstadt.

In 1992, the Rostock location was added. The "Visual Computing"

Business Unit of Fraunhofer Austria in Graz and Fraunhofer IDM@

NTU in Singapore followed in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

Since October 2006, Dieter W. Fellner has been Professor for

Computer Science at TU Darmstadt and Director of Fraunhofer

IGD. Prior to that, he held academic positions at TU Graz, TU

Braunschweig, the University of Bonn, the Memorial University of

Newfoundland, Canada, and the University of Denver, Colorado.

He is still associated with the Technical University in Graz where

he heads the Institute for Computer Graphics and Knowledge

Visualization which he founded in 2005.

Darmstadt headquarters

In his role as professor at TU Darmstadt and as a director of Fraun-

hofer IGD, Professor Fellner initiated a significant expansion of the

research field of visual computing in Darmstadt. Thematically and

organizationally, the institute is divided in ten research competence

centers and one service center. The institute is working closely

together with the group for “Graphic-Interactive Systems” (GRIS) of

the Computer Science Department at TU Darmstadt. The cooperati-

on is an asset for the fundamental research at TU Darmstadt

as well as the applied research of Fraunhofer IGD. With applied re-

search, the institute decisively supports the industrial and business

community in its strategic development.

Location Rostock

In Rostock, targeted research is done in two core areas. At the

“Interactive Document Engineering” Competence Center, resear-

chers are processing issues in the field of visualizations of existential

data, in particular for mechanical and plant engineering as well

as the healthcare industry. The “Maritime Graphics” Competence

Center digitally, virtually and visually supports customers from

shipbuilding, ship operation and maritime technology / maritime

research. In the process, virtual and augmented reality, image

processing and knowledge management are being used. The

“Visual Computing Research and Innovation Center” (VCRIC), also

located at the premises of Fraunhofer IGD in Rostock is a joint

facility of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the University of Rostock. In

a close cooperation, preliminary fundamental research and add-on,

Fraunhofer-typical application research and development is done.

Location Graz

In 2008, the Austrian affiliate of Fraunhofer IGD became ope-

rational under the roof of Fraunhofer Austria. The project office

of Fraunhofer IGD which had been in existence at TU Graz since

2007, was transferred to the “Visual Computing” Business Unit

of Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH. The Fraunhofer location in

Graz develops target-oriented solutions and new products in the

fields of computer graphics, computer vision as well as virtual and

augmented reality. Together with their partners, the researchers

focus on the human being. The interaction between man and

machine is raised to a new level by visual computing innovations.

One of its focal points is the human potential to quickly grasp

44 FRAUNHOFER IGD IN PROFILE

complex issues visually. The researchers at Fraunhofer Austria

closely cooperate with the excellence cluster “Visual Computing”

established at TU Graz.

Location Singapore

In 1998, Fraunhofer IGD founded the Center for Advanced Media

Technology (CAMTech) with Nanyang Technological University

(NTU), from which the Project Center Fraunhofer IDM@NTU emer-

ged in 2010. It promotes research on current economic issues and

is committed to Interactive Digital Media (IDM). The researchers

are working on basic IDM technologies and visual computing

applications with the research priorities of real-time rendering and

visual analytics.

Research areas

Research at Fraunhofer IGD is focused on five strategic research

areas:

Computer graphicsComputer graphics, “image synthesis”, is an essential core discip-

line of “visual computing”. In this research area, technologies and

procedures are developed to generate images from information. In

the process, the data models used as the basis for various applicati-

on scenarios should be as consistent as possible. Fraunhofer IGD is

researching procedures and methods to provide and to handle this

consistent data models in various forms. The most efficient and fle-

xible procedures are the goal for this purpose.

Computer visionUnderstanding and interpreting camera images (“computer vision”)

is becoming more and more important in automation and enginee-

ring processes. Computer vision technologies are used for object re-

cognition via augmented reality and 3D reconstruction procedures.

At Fraunhofer IGD, special tracking and digitization procedures are

developed to faster capture, track and reproduce – true to the origi-

nal – objects, their position and texture.

Human computer interactionToday, the cooperation of man and machine considerably exceeds

previous standard forms of human computer interaction (HCI). The

interaction mechanisms are becoming increasingly similar to the

natural behavior of man. Furthermore, the ever increasing amount

of data are posing new challenges to visualization as well as interac-

tion. In this context, Fraunhofer IGD is researching new interaction

modalities, intelligent environments and visualization methods.

(Interactive) simulationOne core challenge for computer graphics consists of the support

and acceleration of simulation processes. Simulation means the

virtual reproduction of the behavior of physical objects and physical

phenomena, such as the escape behavior of passengers on ships.

Fraunhofer IGD uses current methods with integrated modeling,

simulation and visualization in order to shorten the design process

and to allow users to directly influence the simulation.

ModelingModels are an integral part of visual computing. They offer an

abstract view of selected aspects of reality, thus making the repro-

duction in an information-processing system possible. Fraunhofer

IGD researches, in addition to traditional two- or three-dimensional

model types, also more complex models to be used in practice.

In the process, additional information is often included, and

high-dimensional models to describe and evaluate extensive data

collections are developed.

45

Business fields

Based on these research areas, Fraunhofer IGD works in the

following business fields:

Visual decision supportPeople want to understand contexts, gain insight and make

decisions. Visualizations make it possible to illustrate complex and

interrelated circumstances via models and simulations. Data and

experiences can be analyzed more quickly. This supports the industry,

public authorities and private individuals in making easier and better

decisions.

Virtual engineeringNowadays, new cars or airplanes are almost exclusively created on

the computer. Virtual engineering technologies accompany the

entire product life cycle. By means of 3D technologies, all processes

from manufacturing via training all the way to maintenance are

realistically tested. Not only do users save time and costs but they

also improve the quality of their finished products.

Digital society Intelligent living environments are assisting senior citizens, the smart

phone is turned into a tourist guide. Digitization and networking

characterize our modern society. Acquiring, expanding and storing

knowledge is everyone’s goal. Digitization makes it possible to

capture and pass on experiences, thus enhancing the quality of life of

our society as a whole.

FRAUNHOFER IGD IM PROFIL

Technology laboratories

Fraunhofer IGD uses its labs to demonstrate the results of its

competence centers. In addition, experiments and studies for

project work are performed here.

The following laboratories are available to Fraunhofer IGD:

� Ambient Assisted Living Laboratory

� CultLab3D

� DAVE – four-sided CAVE (in cooperation with TU Graz)

� Evaluation Laboratory for Biometric Systems

� Interactive Showroom & Innovation Lounge

� Laboratory for Augmented Engineering

� Laboratory for High-Quality Image Acquisition and Display

� Maritime Graphics Lab

� Distributed Ambient Assisted Living Laboratory

� Visual Analytics Laboratory

Beyond laboratory work, Fraunhofer IGD offers service centers on

the following topics:

� Service Center GIS

� IT Security (LAN/WAN/Intrusion detection)

Advisory Board

The advisory board of a Fraunhofer Institute acts as an advisory

board and at the same time as a supervisory board.

President

Dr. Gunter Küchler Lufthansa Systems AG

Vice-President

Prof. Dr. Reiner Anderl TU Darmstadt

Members

Dr. Kai Beckmann – Merck KGaA l Prof. Dr. techn. Horst Bischof

– TU Graz l Ekkehart Gerlach – Deutsche Medienakademie

GmbH l Prof. Dr. Markus Gross – ETH Zürich l Prof. Alfred

Katzenbach – Daimler AG l Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Reinhard Klein

– University of Bonn l MinR’in Dr. Ulrike Mattig – The Hessen

State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts l Dr.

Torsten Niederdränk – Siemens AG l Gerhard Rauh – Finance

Business l Dr. Albert Remke – 52° North GmbH l Prof. Dr. Bernt

Schiele – Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik l Prof. Dr. Heidrun

Schumann – University of Rostock l Dr. h. c. Otto G. Zich – Past

Chairman & CEO Sony Europe

46 THE INSITUTE IN FIGURES

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GrazSingapurRostockDarmstadt

Entwicklung der kostenwirksamen Kapazitäten im Fraunhofer IGD an seinen Standorten

20122009 2010 2011 2013 Plan

180

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GrazSingaporeRostockDarmstadt

Development of cost-effective capacities at the locations of Fraunhofer IGD

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Development of staffing contingents (without externals) at the locations of Fraunhofer IGD

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THE INSTITUTE IN FIGURES

F i l l ing the trend for the chal lenges of the future and

doing excel lent sc ient if ic work is the mainstay of a rese-

arch inst i tut ion. Numbers are the economic standard to

benchmark the successful project work of an inst i tute

such as Fraunhofer IGD. The development of Fraunhofer

IGD is shown by the budget graphs and headcount f igu -

res as every year.

At the locations in Darmstadt, Rostock, Graz and Singapore, Fraun-

hofer IGD employed a total of 207 employees. A full-time equivalent

capacity of 182 man years can be calculated from the staffing

quota. Thereby, the staffing quotas are distributed to Darmstadt

at 65 percent, to Rostock at 15 percent, to Graz at four percent

and to Singapore at 16 percent. Planning provides for a growth of

approximately seven percent in the year 2014.

Moreover, Fraunhofer IGD employed about 50 (so-called full-time

equivalent) externals at its institutes in 2013. Externals include

scientific and student assistants, guest researchers and trainees.

In 2013, the total operating budget of Fraunhofer IGD amounted

to around 17 million euros. Around 74 percent of these were

accounted for by Darmstadt, around 16 percent by Rostock, around

four percent by Graz and approximately seven percent by Singapore.

In the year 2014, the budgets are projected to increase slightly at all

locations compared to the previous year’s level. The budgeted figures

for 2014 are based on a calculation from October 2013. 20132010 2011 2012 2014 Plan

20132010 2011 2012 2014 Plan

47

The operating budget of Fraunhofer IGD in Darmstadt constists

approximately of 30 percent basic funding of Fraunhofer-Gesell-

schaft, 20 percent industrial projects, 35 percent EU projects and

15 percent national public projects.

In Rostock, the operating budget was slightly reduced compared

to 2012. The share of basic funding in Rostock amounted to about

25 percent. The other funding shares came from public projects at

around 55 percent and from the industry at 20 percent.

The Graz location has become firmly established in Austria. With

the operating expenses amounting to four percent of the total

budget, the ongoing development has already been consolidated.

The basic funding share was reduced to around 35 percent, while

around 16 percent were externally financed from the industry, 43

percent from EU projects, six percent from public projects.

The Fraunhofer site in Singapore was able to further strengthen its

position in 2013. The main shares of external funding came from

national publicly funded projects with around 63 percent and from

directly commissioned projects at 37 percent. From these are around

two thirds originate from contracting authorities and one third from

the industry. The project income was thus increased so that the

existing structures could be further expanded for a larger group.

THE INSITUTE IN FIGURES

GrazSingaporeRostockDarmstadt

80

60

40

20

0

Development of externals contingents (full-time equivalent) at the locations of Fraunhofer IGD

20132010 2011 2012

GrazSingaporeRostockDarmstadt

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

Mio. €

Development of the operating budget at the loca-tions of Fraunhofer IGD

2014 Plan

20132010 2011 2012 2014 Plan

48 FRAUNHOFER LINKED IN

FRAUNHOFER LINKED IN

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Putting research into practice is the central task of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The research organiza-

tion was founded in 1949 and conducts application-oriented research for the benefit of the economy

and in the interest of society. Its contractual partners and customers are industrial and service

companies as well as public authorities.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently operates 67 institutes and research units. Around 23, 000

employees, mainly scientists and engineers, are developing the annual research volume of 2 billion

euros. Of this sum, around 1.7 billion euros are generated through contract research. More than 70

percent of this service range is derived from contracts with industry and from publicly-funded research

projects. Almost 30 percent is contributed by the German federal and state governments in the form

of basic funding, enabling the institutes to work ahead on solutions to problems that will not become

acutely relevant to industry and society until five or ten years from now.

International cooperations with excellent research partners and innovative companies worldwide

are providing a direct access to the current and future key scientific and economic areas. With its

clear orientation towards applied research and its focus on future-relevant key technologies, the

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is playing a central role in Germany’s and Europe’s innovation process. The

impact of its applied research extends beyond the direct benefit for its customers: With its research

and development work, the Fraunhofer Institutes are contributing to regional, German and European

competitiveness. They boost innovation, reinforce technological performance, improve acceptance

of state-of-the-art technology and provide for initial and continuing training of urgently required

scientific-technical talent.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft offers its employees an opportunity to develop their professional and

personal talents for demanding positions at their institutes, at universities, in business and society.

Students working at the Fraunhofer institutes have excellent prospects of starting and developing a

career in industry by virtue of the practical training and experience they have acquired.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is a recognized non-profit organization and takes its name from Munich

scholar Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826). He was equally successful as a researcher, inventor and

entrepreneur.

www.fraunhofer.de/en

Fraunhofer Executive Board:

Prof. Dr. Reimund Neugebauer

Prof. Dr. Alfred Gossner

Dr. Alexander Kurz

In December 2013, Dr. Birgit Geier

became the institute advisor for

Fraunhofer IGD. She followed

Christoph Hanno Fischer, who

took on another task within the

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

49

Fraunhofer alliances

Institutes or departments of institutes with different competences cooperate in Fraunhofer alliances to

jointly process and market a business field. Competence centers of Fraunhofer IGD have been working

closely together for many years with other Fraunhofer Institutes in the Fraunhofer Alliances “Ambient

Assisted Living” and “Numerical Simulation of Products, Processes”. Since 2013, Fraunhofer IGD is also a

member of the Fraunhofer Alliance “Traffic and Transportation”.

www.fraunhofer.de/en/ inst i tutes-research-establ ishments/groups-al l iances.html

Fraunhofer Group Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Technically related institutes are organized within groups and join forces on the research and develop-

ment market. Fraunhofer IGD is a member of the Fraunhofer ICT Group. It bundles the competences

of the institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to develop and implement the IT solutions for various

industries and application scenarios. The Group permits business field specific, integrated and customized

approaches as well as competent technology consulting for industry, public authorities and media from a

single source. It provides companies and users with market knowledge, know-how, experts and state-of-

the-art technologies, independent of the manufacturer or system.

The Group represents 19 institutes with around 5000 employees. The branch office in Berlin-Mitte serves

as a one-stop shop to establish the respectively suitable contact.

The complementary competences of the institutes comprehensively cover the value chains in the ICT

industry. The member institutes have a high potential for innovation in technology development – in

particular of mobile networks and data transmission, IT security, software engineering, knowledge

management and information logistics, e-learning, embedded systems, of electronic commerce as well as

virtual and simulated reality.

www.iuk.fraunhofer.de/en

FRAUNHOFER LINKED IN

Some of the key business

fields of the Fraunhofer

ICT Group are:

� Software and Digital Networks

� Digital Media

� Mobility and Transport

� Digital Services

� E-Government

� Medicine and Health

� IT-Security

� Energy and Sustainability

� Production und Logistics

� Security

50 CUSTOMERS AND COOPERATION PARTNERS

“The lasting success of Fraunhofer IGD is based on our collaboration with strong partners. The institute cooperates with research

institutes and leading enterprises all around the world. Here is a small selection of our current customers and cooperation partners.”

� 52°North Initiative for Geospatial Open Source Software GmbH, Münster, Germany

� Adam Opel GmbH, Rüsselsheim, Germany � AED-SICAD AG, Bonn, Germany � AEW srl, Rome, Italy � Airbus, Toulouse, France � AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology GmbhH, Wien � Alenia Aermacchi S.p.A., Venegono Superiore bei Varese, Italy � ANOVA Multimedia Studios GmbH, Rostock, Germany � Arca Regler GmbH, Tönisforst, Germany � Architectura Virtualis GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � ARCTUR d.o.o., Nova Gorica, Slovenia � artop – Institute at the Humbodt University of Berlin, Germany � ASDE – Agency of sustainable development and eurointegration,

Sofia, Bulgaria � Asplan Viak Internet AS, Arendal, Norway � Assyst GmbH, Aschheim-Dornach, Germany � ATOS Spain S.A., Madrid, Spain � Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany � AugustaWestland, Varese, Italy � Autodesk Gmbh, Munich, Germany � BASIS Computer- & Systemintegration GmbH, Wismar, Germany � BioArtProducts GmbH, Rostock, Germany � Bionic Robotics GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � Bogazici University, Turkey � Bosch Rexroth AG, Lohr am Main, Germany � Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (Federal Office

for Information Security Technology) BSI, Bonn, Germany � Bundesdruckerei (Federal Printing Office), Berlin, Germany � Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office), Wiesbaden, Germany � CARSA, Getxo, Spain � Centro de Estudios Ambientales – Ayuntamiento de Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain � CIMNE – International Center for Numerical Methods in Enginee-

ring, Barcelona, Spain � CIP Organisation, Zürich, Switzerland � Cognitec Systems, Dresden, Germany � Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche CNR-ISTI, Pisa, Italy � ConWeaver GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � Cornelsen Schulverlage GmbH, Berlin, Germany � COSAWA Sanierung GmbH, Peine, Germany � CST AG, Darmstadt, Germany � Dassault Aviation, Paris, France � Datafox GmbH, Geisa, Germany � DE software & control GmbH, Dingolfing, Germany � Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardizati-

on) DIN, Berlin, Germany � Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (German

Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) GmbH DFKI, Kaiserslau-tern, Germany

� DLR, Cologne, Germany � EADS, Germany/France � Eurocopter Francae SAS, France � EXTEND3D GmbH, Munich, Germany � Fratelli Piacenza S.P.A., Italy � Fraunhofer-Chalmers Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden � Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI,

Sankt Augustin, Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP, Stuttgart, Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS, Bremen,

Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, St. Ingbert,

Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Pfinztal, Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced

Materials IFAM, Bremen, Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS � Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems

IAIS , Sankt Augustin, Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI � Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image

Exploitation IOSB, Karlsruhe, Germany � Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automati-

on IPA, Stuttgart, Germany � FZI Research Center for Information Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany � GeoSystems, Warschau, Poland � GeoVille Information Systems GmbH, Innsbruck, Austria � Gjøvik University College, Gjøvik, Norway � GPB-Arke, Geotechnisches Planung- und Beratungsbüro (geotechni-

cal planning and consulting office) Hessisch Oldendorf, Germany � Greenfield, Cape Town, South Africa � GTA GeoService GmbH, Neubrandenburg, Germany � HARTING Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Espelkamp, Germany � Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf – HNO-Klinik (ENT Clinic),

Düsseldorf, Germany � HEITEC AG, Erlangen, Germany � HELLENIC AEROSPACE INDUSTRY SA, Tanagra, Greece � Help Service – Remote Sensing, Prague, Czech Republic � Hessische Landesgesellschaft mbH, Kassel, Germany � Hessische Verwaltung für Bodenmanagement und Geoinformation,

Wiesbaden, Germany � University of Wismar, Germany � HR Wallingford Ltd., Wallingford, United Kingdom � Ifremer – Institut français de recherche pour l‘exploitation de la mer,

Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

CUSTOMERS AND COOPERATION PARTNERS

51CUSTOMERS AND COOPERATION PARTNERS

� IGN – Institut National de l‘Information Géographique et Forestière, Saint Mande, France

� imc information multimedia communication AG, Saarbrücken, Germany � INDECEXON, Toronto, Canada � InGeoForum, Darmstadt, Germany � INRIA – Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Auto-

matique, Le Chesnay, France � Institute for Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (FÖMI),

Budapest, Hungary � Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique

(INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France � International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), The

Hague, Netherlands � INTERPOL, Europe � ISRA Vision GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., Israel � Istituto Gianna Gaslini, Genua, Italy � ITI GmbH, Dresden, Germany � Jembi, Cape Town, South Africa � Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Ispra, Europe � Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA � Jotne EPM Technology AS, Oslo, Norway � Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany � L-1 Identity Solutions AG, Bochum, Germany � Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, France � Liebieghaus sculpture collection, Frankfurt am Main, Germany � Lynkeus Srl, Rome, Italy � M.O.S.S. Computer Grafik Systeme GmbH, Taufkirchen, Germany � Mankiewicz GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg, Germany � Maytec Aluminium Systemtechnik GmbH, Münzenberg, Germany � Medcom GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � MEDIGREIF-Inselklinik Heringsdorf GmbH, Heringsdorf, Germany � MESA Metall-Stahlbau GmbH, Carlow, Germany � Missler Software, Ramonville, France � National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Washington, USA � NMY Mixed-Reality Communication GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany � NUMECA Ingenieurbüro, Altdorf b. Nuremberg, Germany � NUMECA International, Brussels, Belgium � Oncotyrol, Innsbruck, Austria � OneToNet Srl, Milan, Italy � Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy � Planet IC GmbH, Schwerin, Germany � PlassData Software A/S, Holbæk, Denmark � Polymetric GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � PSIPENTA Software Systems GmbH, Berlin, Germany � Regione Liguria, Genua, Italy � RUAG Switzerland Ltd., Switzerland � S21sec, Madrid, Spain � SAFRAN, Safran Morpho, Paris, France � SAP Research, Karlsruhe, Germany � Scheller Systemtechnik GmbH, Wismar, Germany � Schwamborn GmbH, Lindlar, Germany

� secunet Security Networks AG, Essen, Germany � Serious Games Interactive, Copenhagen, Denmark � Siemens AG, Munich, Germany � SINTEF, Oslo, Norway � Municipal Hospitals of Offenbach, Germany � Stadt Bologna, Italy � Stadt Mainz, Germany � Stadt Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany � Stadt Wien, Austria � Stellba Hydro GmbH & Co KG, Herbrechtingen, Germany � Stichting NL Cluster for CS Eco Design, Netherlands � Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany � STMicroelectronics Srl, Milan, Italy � Symantec Ltd., Sophia Antipolis, France � Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany � Technical University of Delft, Netherlands � Technical University of Dresden, Germany � Technical University of Graz, Austria � TeleTrusT, Berlin, Germany � tim – traffic information and management GmbH, Dieburg, Germany � Twinsoft Biometrics, Ratingen, Germany � Independent Data Protection Center of Schleswig-Holstein (ULD),

Kiel, Germany � Unique Identification Authority of India UIDAI, India � UNITEC Informationssysteme GmbH, Hanau, Germany � Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain � Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain � Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy � Universitá Roma III, Italy � Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, Netherlands � University of Constance, Germany � University of Rostock, Germany � University Clinic of Frankfurt, Germany � University Clinic of Marburg/Gießen, Germany � University College of London, United Kingdom � University de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO), Brest, France � University of Brighton, United Kingdom � University of Kent, United Kingdom � University of Nottingham, United Kingdom � University of Sheffield, United Kingdom � University of Twente, Netherlands � University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic � University of Western England, Bristol, United Kingdom � Velti Kainotomes Epixeiriseis Anonimi Etaireia Kefalaiou Epixeirimati-

kon Simmetoxon kai Ependiseon, Athens, Greece � VICOMtech, San Sebastian, Spain � VoiceTrust AG, Munich, Germany � Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany � Volvo Technology Corporation, Gothenburg, Sweden � VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Oulu, Finland � VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands � Werner Otto GmbH, Hameln, Germany

52 PUBLICATIONS

Große-Puppendahl, Tobias; Braun, Andreas; Kamieth, Felix;

Kuijper, Arjan: Swiss-Cheese Extended: An Object Recognition

Method for Ubiquitous Interfaces based on Capacitive Proximity

Sensing. ACM SIGCHI: CHI 2013, 2013, pp. 1401-1410.

Weber, Daniel; Bender, Jan; Schnös, Markus; Stork, André;

Fellner, Dieter W.: Efficient GPU Data Structures and Methods to

Solve Sparse Linear Systems in Dynamics Applications. Computer

Graphics Forum. 32 (2013), 1, pp. 16-26.

Bernard, Jürgen; Wilhelm, Nils; Krüger, Björn; May, Thorsten;

Schreck, Tobias; Kohlhammer, Jörn: MotionExplorer: Exploratory

Search in Human Motion Capture Data Based on Hierarchical

Aggregation. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer

Graphics. 19 (2013), 12, pp. 2257-2266.

Schmitt, Nikolas; Knuth, Martin; Bender, Jan; Kuijper, Arjan:

Multilevel Cloth Simulation using GPU Surface Sampling. VRIPHYS

13: 10th Workshop in Virtual Reality Interactions and Physical

Simulations, 2013, pp. 1-10.

Olbrich, Manuel; Graf, Holger; Kahn, Svenja; Engelke, Timo; Keil,

Jens; Rieß, Patrick; Webel, Sabine; Bockholt, Ulrich; Picinbono,

Guillaume: Augmented Reality Supporting User-centric Building

Information Management. The Visual Computer. 29 (2013), 10,

pp. 1093-1105.

Steiger, Martin; Krämer, Michel; Ruppert, Tobias; Kohlhammer,

Jörn: Visualizing Uncertain Underground Information for Urban

Management. Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference

Computer Graphics, Visualization, Computer Vision and Image

Processing, 2013, pp. 75-82.

Kahn, Svenja; Keil, Jens; Müller, Benedikt; Bockholt, Ulrich; Fellner,

Dieter W.: Capturing of Contemporary Dance for Preservation and

Presentation of Choreographies in Online Scores. Proceedings of

Digital Heritage. (IEEE), 2013, pp. 273-280.

Steger, Sebastian; Bozoglu, Y. Nazli; Kuijper, Arjan; Wesarg,

Stefan: Application of Radial Ray Based Segmentation to Cervical

Lymph Nodes in CT Images. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

32 (2013), 5, pp. 888-900.

Hammon, Matthias; Cavallaro, Alexander; Erdt, Marius; Dankerl,

Peter; Kirschner, Matthias; Drechsler, Klaus; Wesarg, Stefan; Uder,

Michael; Janka, Rolf: Model-Based Pancreas Segmentation in

Portal Venous Phase Contrast-Enhanced CT Images. Journal of

Digital Imaging. (2013), p. /p. 1.

Damer, Naser; Opel, Alexander; Nouak, Alexander: Performance

Anchored Score Normalization for Multi-Biometric Fusion. Advan-

ces in Visual Computing (LNCS 8034), 2013, pp. 68-75.

Scient ists must publ ish in order to be perceived and play a leading role in the world of sc ience. Sc ient if ic

publ ishing also means dia log, however, and dia log in turn means networking and developing new ideas.

Researchers of Fraunhofer IGD publ ish their knowledge in different forms, present their work at conferen-

ces and win awards. The fol lowing compi lat ion presents you with a smal l se lect ion of over 180 sc ient if ic

publ icat ions of Fraunhofer IGD from the year 2013.

PUBLICATIONS

Santos, Pedro: CultLab3D. E-Catalogue of the Digital Heritage 2013

Expo, 2013, pp. 30-31.

Pan, Xueming; Schröttner, Martin; Havemann, Sven; Schiffer, Tho-

mas; Berndt, Rene; Hecher, Martin; Fellner, Dieter W.: A Repository

Infrastructure for Working with 3D Assets in Cultural Heritage.

International Journal of Heritage in the Digital Era. 2 (2013), 1, pp.

144-166.

Xin, Shi-Qing; Wang, Xiaoning; Xia, Jiazhi; Müller-Wittig, Wolfgang

K.; Wang, Guo-Jin; He, Ying: Parallel Computing 2D Voronoi Dia-

grams Using Untransformed Sweepcircles. Computer-Aided Design:

CAD. 45 (2013), 2, pp. 483-493.

Peter, Christian; Kreiner, Andreas; Schröter, Martin; Kim, Hyosun;

Bieber, Gerald; Öhberg, Fredrik; Hoshi, Kei; Waterworth, Eva L.;

Waterworth, John A.; Ballesteros, Soledad: AGNES: Connecting

People in a Multimodal Way. Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces.

7 (2013), 3, pp. 229-245.

Aehnelt, Mario; Schulz, Hans-Jörg; Urban, Bodo: Towards a Cont-

extualized Visual Analysis of Heterogeneous Manufacturing Data.

Advances in Visual Computing (LNCS 8034), 2013, pp. 76-85.

Limper, Max; Wagner, Stefan; Stein, Christian; Jung, Yvonne; Stork,

André: Fast Delivery of 3D Web Content: A Case Study. 18th

International Conference on 3D Web Technology, 2013, pp. 11-17.

Darmstadt Computer Graphics Evening 2013

The Darmstadt Computer Graphics Evening has highlighted

the trends in visual computing for many years. On an annual

basis, Fraunhofer IGD and its associated research groups

from TU Darmstadt honor the most demanding publications,

doctorates as well as diploma theses and student research

projects. The “Best Paper Award” honors outstanding scien-

tific publications. The “Best Thesis Award” was presented by

the jury to the best bachelor and master theses. In 2013, the

winners are ...

“Best Paper Award” 2013

Große-Puppendahl, Tobias; Berlin, Eugen; Borazio, Marko:

Enhancing Accelerometer-Based Activity Recognition with

Capacitive Proximity Sensing. Paterno, Fabio (Ed.) et al.: Am-

bient Intelligence : Third International Joint Conference, AmI

2012. Berlin; Heidelberg; New York: Springer, 2012. (Lecture

Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) 7683), pp. 17-32.

Berndt, Rene; Settgast, Volker; Eggeling, Eva; Schinko,

Christoph; Krispel, Ulrich; Havemann, Sven; Fellner, Dieter

W.: Ring‘s Anatomy – Parametric Design of Wedding Rings.

Sehring, Hans-Werner et al.: CONTENT 2012 : The Fourth

International Conference on Creative Content Technologies.

ThinkMind, 2012, pp. 72-78.

Andriyenko, Anton; Schindler, Konrad; Roth, Stefan:

Discrete-Continuous Optimization for Multi-Target Tracking.

IEEE Computer Society: IEEE Conference on Computer Vision

and Pattern Recognition: CVPR 2012. New York: IEEE, 2012,

pp. 1926-1933.

“Best Thesis Award” 2013

Karl Robert Biehl: “Part based object detection with a

flexible context constraint” (diploma thesis)

Daniel Thürck: “A well-posed parameter-free model for

nonlinear diffusion and its applications in mobile image

processing” (bachelor thesis)

Sebastian Beck: “A Gesture Recognition Device with Visual

Feedback using Capacitive Proximity Sensing” (bachelor

thesis)

54 OUR OFFERS AND SERVICES AT A GLANCE

Wherever people use modern computer technologies, there are application fields

of visual computing and thus supporting solutions in order to facilitate the work

of strongly visually-oriented people. In particular when it comes to making quick

engineering or esthetic decisions, you can further improve your work in terms of

quality and quantity with adapted visual computing solutions.

Fraunhofer IGD and its partners offer your customers numerous services around cont-

ract research and implement them to a high quality standard for you and with you.

Do you have any questions about cooperation options and need more infor-

mation? Our contacts in Germany, Austria and Singapore will be happy to

assist you.

WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU

“We support customers from industry, bus iness and publ ic author i t ies

with our competences in appl ied v isual computing. V isual computing

offers v isual izat ion and s imulat ion technologies for a very broad f ie ld

of appl icat ions.”

SERVICE AND

CONTACTS

Technologies and appl icat ions are sup-

port ing our core competences. In our

research work, we use a wide range of

methods which we cont inuously de -

velop. Due to our comprehensive and

interdisc ip l inary v is ion, we have de -

veloped a diverse serv ice offer, bundled

in 14 research competence centers and

one serv ice center.

Dr.-Ing. Reiner Wichert

+49 6151 155-574

reiner.wichert@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Interactive Multimedia Appliances

Future-oriented Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)

solutions and their development is the primary

research field of the “Interactive Multimedia

Appliances” Competence Center. Under the

direction of Reiner Wichert, solutions are gene-

rated to make life easier. Intelligent assistance

systems respond independently, support daily

routines and are nearly invisibly integrated in

your residence.

Our offers and services at a glance

• Contract research for industry, business and public authorities

Development of new technologies, prototypes and complete systems

Preparation of concepts, models and practical solutions

Support service at the customer‘s location

Evaluation of software and hardware

Visualization of information

2D modeling and 3D modeling

Simulations of models

Studies and consultation

Licensing

Training

55SERVICE AND CONTACTS

Dr.-Ing. Jörn Kohlhammer

+49 6151 155-646

joern.kohlhammer@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Information Visualization and Visual Analytics

Visual analytics, semantic visualization and real

time simulation – these are the topics of the

“Information Visualization and Visual Ana-

lytics” Competence Center. The team headed

by Jörn Kohlhammer creates solutions for the

interactive visualization of large amounts of

data, so-called visual-analytics technologies.

Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Bockholt

+49 6151 155-277

ulrich.bockholt@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Virtual and Augmented Reality

“Virtual and Augmented Reality” – this is the

name of the competence center headed by Ulrich

Bockholt and active in the fields of virtual reality

and augmented reality. “The competence center

researches technologies for object recognition

and tracking by means of video camera images.

The technologies are used on smartphone and

tablet systems in industrial maintenance, 3D

interaction and driver assistance.”

Dr.-Ing. Joachim Rix

+49 6151 155-221

joachim.rix@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Spatial Information Management

Joachim Rix is heading the “ Spatial Information

Management” Competence Center. Successful

communication and efficient cooperation are made

possible by the researchers by means of new digital

geoinformation technologies. In the process, the

competence center is exploring new paths for the

comprehensive integration, administration and visua-

lization by means of 3D geoinformation systems.

Alexander Nouak

+49 6151 155-147

alexander.nouak@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Identification and Biometrics

The “Identification and Biometrics” Compe-

tence Center is dedicated to the promising

technology field of biometrics under the

direction of Alexander Nouak. The research

projects revolve around the technical options

to recognize a person by means of his or her

physical features. Moreover, Fraunhofer IGD

is supporting the Federal Office for Security in

Information Technology in its standardization

projects in the field of biometrics by actively

participating in the respective panels.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bodo Urban

+49 381 4024-110

bodo.urban@igd-r.fraunhofer.de

Location Rostock

Interactive Document Engineering

The “Interactive Document Engineering”

Competence Center develops solutions for the

visualization of existential data, in particular for

the mechanical and plant engineering as well

as healthcare industries. Under the direction

of Bodo Urban, researchers are working on

technologies to support users in many areas

of working, learning and living, and to provide

information and documents in line with needs

and context and to offer intuitive interaction

options.

56 SERVICE AND CONTACTS

Dr. Philipp Urban

+49 6151 155-250

philipp.urban@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

3D Printing Technology

Headed by Philipp Urban, the “3D Printing

Technology” Competence Center develops

models, algorithms and software to make

printed 3D objects as similiar as possible to the

original. The goal is a 3D copying machine that

will render original and reproduction virtually

indistinguishable. The developments are headed

towards 3D printing with multiple materials.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Müller-Wittig

+65 6790 6988

wolfgang.mueller-wittig@fraunhofer.sg

Location Singapore

Interactive Digital Media

Headed by Wolfgang Müller-Wittig, the

“Interactive Digital Media” Competence Center

is part of the international research centers

in Singapore. At the research center Fraun-

hofer IDM@NTU, research is mainly done on

interactive and digital media components. The

implemented projects are aiming at constantly

pushing the current limits of the technological

bases.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Freiherr von Lukas

+49 381 4024-110

uwe.von.lukas@igd-r.fraunhofer.de

Location Rostock

Maritime Graphics

The “Maritime Graphics” Competence Center

develops solutions for the maritime industry; ship-

building, ship operation and maritime technology

/ marine research benefit from the future-oriented

developments. Under the direction of Uwe

Freiherr von Lukas, researchers are combining

the technical competence in (submarine) image

processing and visualization with the knowledge

of the special needs and basic conditions of the

maritime industry.

Dr. rer. nat. Eva Eggeling

+43 316 873-5410

eva.eggeling@fraunhofer.at

Location Graz

Visual Computing

To make high-end visualizations possible,

modeling and simulation must interlock.

The team around Eva Eggeling combines

these two demanding disciplines and brings

immersive environments to life in this way.

In the various application fields, Fraunhofer

Austria in Graz thus creates visualizations in

order to continuously improve the interaction

between man and machine.

Dr.-Ing. Stefan Wesarg

+49 6151 155-511

stefan.wesarg@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Cognitive Computing und Medical Imaging

New software solutions are changing

medicine and medical engineering. Imaging

techniques support the daily work of doctors

and have become firmly established in the

hospital routine. They help the hospital staff in

planning, simulating and navigating surgical

procedures. The “Cognitive Computing &

Medical Imaging” Competence Center headed

by Stefan Wesarg develops solutions so that

doctors can effectively use image data when

it comes to diagnostics, therapy planning and

intra-operative navigation.

57IHRE ANSPRECHPARTNER

Dipl.-Ing., M. Sc. Jaromir Likavec

+49 6151 155-314

jaromir.likavec@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Service Center

Research institutions and researching

companies have special requirements for

their IT infrastructure. The Service Center

has developed special competences in this

regard and is conducting its own research

to optimize the performance of existing

infrastructures. Within Fraunhofer, the

Service Center employees are welcome

service providers due to their competence.

Their research activities are also increasingly

extending beyond Fraunhofer.

M. Sc. Inform. Pedro Santos

+49 6151 155-472

pedro.santos@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Cultural Heritage Digitization

With his “Cultural Heritage Digitization”

Competence Center, Pedro Santos is

developing fast, economic digitization

procedures for the true-to-the-original,

virtual reproduction of real objects. In the

process, geometry and texture as well as the

physical-optical material properties are to be

measured and captured automatically. The

reconstruction procedures used are scanning

the objects with various optical sensors and

light sources under constant environmental

conditions as much as possible for a compa-

rably high quality.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. André Stork

+49 6151 155-469

andre.stork@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Interactive Engineering Technologies

Under the direction of André Stork, the

“Interactive Engineering Technologies”

Competence Center is creating solutions

to simplify decision-making processes for

engineers. This is done by means of computer

graphics technologies – interactive graphics

and simulation as well as modeling reality.

Demanding simulation methods are providing

support through interactive presentation

formats and allow for insights to be gained in

complex issues.

Dr.-Ing. Johannes Behr

+49 6151 155-510

johannes.behr@igd.fraunhofer.de

Location Darmstadt

Visual Computing System Technologies

Visual Computing refers to image- and

model-based computer science. This includes

virtual and augmented reality, graphic data

processing and computer vision. The “Visual

Computing System Technologies” Competence

Center headed by Johannes Behr is on a mission

to make these basic technologies of Fraunhofer

IGD more available to other research groups and

the partners from industry.

For more information on the respective competence centers and their projects, please visit our website

www.igd.fraunhofer.de/en/Institut/Abteilungen.

58 HOW TO FIND US

HOW TO FIND US

Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD

Fraunhoferstrasse 5

64283 Darmstadt, Germany

Phone +49 6151 155-0

Fax +49 6151 155-199

info@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Director

Prof. Dr. techn. Dieter W. Fellner

+49 6151 155-100

institutsleitung@igd.fraunhofer.de

Deputy Director

Dr.-Ing. Matthias Unbescheiden

+49 6151 155-155

matthias.unbescheiden@igd.fraunhofer.de

Director‘s Office

Barbara Merten

+49 6151 155-101

barbara.merten@igd.fraunhofer.de

LOCATION ROSTOCK

Joachim-Jungius-Strasse 11

18059 Rostock, Germany

Phone +49 381 4024-110

Fax +49 381 4024-199

info@igd-r.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de/rostock

LOCATION GRAZ

Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH

Visual Computing Business Unit

Inffeldgasse 16c/II

8010 Graz, Austria

Phone +43 316 873-5410

Fax +43 316 873-105410

office.graz@fraunhofer.at

www.vc.fraunhofer.at

LOCATION SINGAPUR

Fraunhofer Project Center IDM@NTU

50 Nanyang Avenue

Singapore 639798, Singapore

Phone +65 6790 6989

Fax +65 6792 8123

info@fraunhofer.sg

www.fraunhofer.sg

59PUBLICATION DETAILS

Editorial address

Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD

Corporate Communications

Fraunhoferstrasse 5

64283 Darmstadt, Germany

Phone +49 6151 155-437

cc@igd.fraunhofer.de

Reproduction of any material is subject to editorial authorization.

© Fraunhofer IGD, 2014

Image sources:

Werbefotografie Rühl und Bormann: title; p. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9,

10, 12, 13, 14, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 45

Fotolia: p. 15 – Guido Vrola; p. 25 – Parris Cope; p. 31 – fo-

toflash; p. 49 – ag; p. 51 – pressmaster; p. 59 – marchcattle

Fraunhofer Austria: p. 5, 21, 28, 29, 30, 41

MEV: p. 27

Andreas Ehring: p. 22

All other images and graphs: © Fraunhofer IGD

Publisher

Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD

Prof. Dr. techn. Dieter W. Fellner

Editorial Team

Dr. Konrad Baier (head)

Janine van Ackeren

Heidrun Bornemann

Detlef Wehner

Katrin Fraunhoffer

Production

Anja Gollnast

Detlef Wehner

Design

Juliane Egner

Anja Gollnast

All rights reserved.

Reproduction of any material is subject to editorial authorization.

For further information on projects, technologies and competen-

ces as well as contact addresses of our institute in German and

English, please visit our website at:

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Please address general inquiries by e-mail to:

info@igd.fraunhofer.de

PUBLICATION DETAILS

60 EDITORIAL

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